CommentaryExpat LifePhnom Penh

7 Ways Cambodia Can Solve its Foreign Dude Problem

Oh crap, it happened again. Just yesterday, Cambodian police announced that they are searching for a 48 year-old British man in connection with the presumed murder of a Cambodian woman. Apparently, the suspect fled his hotel in quite a haste after allegedly killing a “lady visitor” and stuffing her dead body under his bed.

The details of this particular incident may be revolting, but sadly, the report of a Westerner being implicated in a crime in Cambodia is no longer surprising at all.

Every time I return to Cambodia after a few months away from the country, I’m amazed by the rapidly increasing number of Westerners who are visiting or living in the Kingdom. Cambodia now welcomes over four million foreign tourists annually – six times as many tourists as it received just ten years ago.

It’s not just the tourist numbers that are increasing. Thanks to a rising Thai baht and some cockblocking visa restrictions implemented across the border in Thailand, the number of expatriates moving to Cambodia has also swelled in recent years. Unfortunately, while the quantity of foreigners in Cambodia continues to multiply, the quality of foreigners visiting and moving to Cambodia appears to have declined.

Hardly a day goes by now without a sensational article in the local press about a Western lowlife engaging in some embarrassing or criminal behavior that seems to cast all foreign visitors to Cambodia in a negative light.

But if you read those news articles and you take just a cursory look at the Western meth headsburnoutsbooze hounds, bums, and beggars wandering the streets of Phnom Penh, you will quickly realize that Cambodia doesn’t have a general problem with “foreigners” causing trouble in the country.

Cambodia has a specific problem with foreign men.

Think about it. Foreign women don’t flee criminal charges
in their home countries and move to Cambodia to buy sex from teenagers, abuse drugs and alcohol, molest orphans, and assist suicides in Kampot.

Foreign men do that.

You never see local newspaper photos of a crazy foreign woman setting fire to her apartment building while wearing only a Speedo.

You don’t read about foreign women in Cambodia glassing bargirlsstealing Wild Turkey from supermarkets, strangling Vietnamese prostitutes, or setting up fake charities to get access to vulnerable garbage dump kids. Foreign men in Cambodia do that.

You rarely see foreign women driving drunk and killing Khmers or hopping around ancient temples with their peckers hanging out. If a Cambodian hotel owner rents a room to a foreign woman, he can be relatively confident that she’s not going to smash up the hotel, burglarize the other rooms, or leave a dead hooker under the bed.

As far as I know, Cambodian police have never arrested any Western women for stealing cars,
dealing drugs, raping masseuses, robbing banks, sodomizing beggar kids, cutting off the thumbs of local thieves, or wrapping their dead roommates in tarp and sleeping with their decomposing bodies. Western men in Cambodia get arrested for that stuff. Pretty often.

Am I suggesting that foreign women in Cambodia are perfect? No. They are sometimes seen plodding around in ill-fitting backpacker garb and trying to pay 900 riel for a tuk tuk ride. But by and large (and I do mean large), the foreign women you meet in Cambodia are decent, law-abiding people who are here to do something positive with their lives. A foreign woman who moves to Cambodia almost always does so for a noble purpose, like working, volunteering, or supporting her man. In the meantime, the most popular reason for foreign men to move to Cambodia in 2013 was “could no longer afford the booze and hookers in Pattaya.”

Do you know what else foreign women almost never do in Cambodia? Die. Okay, every now and then you may hear about a drug overdose by a honeymooning bride, but that’s quite rare.

Self-destructive foreign men, on the other hand, bite the dust in Cambodia with alarming frequency. They jump from buildings and leap from bridges. They hang themselves, stab themselves, shoot themselves, and drink themselves to death.

Most commonly, they die from drug relatedheart attacks” in Sihanoukville or on Phnom Penh’s Street 51, where the Grim Reaper stalks the notorious Walkabout Hotel.

Am I suggesting that every foreign man in Cambodia is a sexually deviant, alcoholic jailbird who will inevitably harm himself or someone else with his disgusting and dangerous behavior? No, not every one. But it cannot be denied that all of the raping, killing, stealing, and dying by foreign dudes in Cambodia inflicts untold suffering upon the Cambodians who are victimized by their crimes, not to mention the burden on local authorities who have to clean up the foreign corpses and ship them back to Croydon.

There are so many undesirable foreign dudes menacing Cambodia now that the Cambodian government should really do something to solve this problem. Here are 7 ways it could do so:

1. Impose gender-based visa fees

At the moment, Cambodian tourist visas cost $20 per month. Ordinary (business) visas cost $25 per month. Here’s my proposal. Starting immediately, entry visas should be totally free. For women. Visa fees for men should be doubled, to $40 a month for tourist visas and $50 a month for business visas.

Hear me out on this. While I have not seen any statistics showing what percent of foreign visitors to Cambodia are male, it is undoubtedly well over 50%. My guess is that the Western expat community may be as much as 75% male.

This male-female visitor ratio is unnatural. If a bar or nightclub attracts disproportionately too many dudes, it will impose a cover charge for men and offer “ladies night” promotions to women. This prevents the place from turning into an undesirable nightly sausagefest. If the strategy works for bars, why shouldn’t countries do the same thing?

Doubling visa fees for men and eliminating fees for women will generate substantially more revenue for Cambodia, because there are more male visitors than females. Instead of 4 million annual visitors paying $20 each ($80 million), there will be about 2.5 million male visitors paying $40 each ($100 million), and 1.5 million females entering for free.

The change would have absolutely no financial impact on all the normal male-female couples who visit Cambodia as legitimate tourists. The husband’s visa costs would double and the wife’s visa costs would be eliminated, so that’s a wash.

The increase would only detrimentally impact all the “lone wolf” males who visit Cambodia each year– the exact demographic that causes most of the trouble once they get into the country. Doubling their visa fees would offset the costs of hosting these high risk, deathprone visitors, and it might dissuade some of them from showing up at all. Any single dude who is deterred from visiting Cambodia due to a $20 increase in his visa fee probably wouldn’t have contributed much to the local economy anyway.

What about the cost of extending an ordinary (business) visa to remain in Cambodia for a full year? Right now that costs about $285. Under my proposal, the one year visa extension would be free for women but cost twice as much (about $570) for men. This would help attract desirable female expatriates, while simultaneously deterring immigration from a less desirable, oversaturated group (i.e., single dudes who can’t afford $570 per year to stay in the country).

You may think, “This idea is crazy. Cambodia would never implement deliberately discriminatory visa fees based on gender.” Why not? Cambodia already imposes weird age restrictions and financial requirements on foreign men who wish to marry Cambodian women; discriminatory rules that are not imposed against foreign women who wish to marry Cambodian men.

Raising visa fees for foreign men would be a simple and effective way for Cambodia to increase revenue by tens of millions of dollars and control immigration from a particular, problematic subset of foreign visitors that Cambodian law already discriminates against. The only remaining question is whether some skint expat dudes would try to save the $570 by applying for their visa extensions disguised as women, like Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari in “Bosom Buddies.” Well, of course they would.

2. Ban foreign men from teaching Cambodian children

Many of the foreign men in Cambodia support themselves by teaching English to Cambodian children. It seems that almost any Westerner can find a teaching job in Cambodia, even with no prior experience or qualifications. Disturbingly, there have been numerous incidents of Western men getting jobs as teachers in Cambodia even though they have prior records in their home countries of sex crimes against children. One American serial pedophile told the FBI that he came to Cambodia specifically because it was an easy place for a convicted sex offender to find work as a teacher.

It’s not feasible for Cambodian schools or the Cambodian government to conduct worldwide background checks to determine which foreign teachers are prior sex offenders. The only surefire way to protect Cambodian children is to ban foreign men from teaching them at all.

Children are loud, annoying, germ rockets who are best cared for by women anyway. It’s quite unnatural for an adult male to ever want to spend time with any children other than his own. Any white guy who randomly shows up in Cambodia to “help the children” should probably be kept as far away from kids as humanly possible. If you had a child, would you rather leave the kid with an unknown Western woman for the day, or leave the kid with the next white dude you find walking along Phnom Penh’s riverside? I thought so.

I’m actually surprised that a ban on foreign men teaching kids hasn’t happened yet. When foreigners do bad things to Cambodians, the Cambodian government usually responds with a sweeping ban of whatever activity led to the abuse. When news broke of abusive marriages between Korean men and Cambodian women, Cambodia simply banned Korean men from marrying its women. When Malaysian employers mistreated some Cambodian maids, Cambodia banned Malaysian recruiters from hiring more maids. Following reports of child trafficking, Cambodia banned foreigners from adopting Cambodian children.

I realize that most foreign male teachers in Cambodia are not rapists or child molesters. But there have been enough horrific reports of sexual abuse of Cambodian children by foreign male teachers that ban-happy Cambodia should just forbid foreign men from teaching kids.

Why can’t the foreign dudes in Cambodia teach English to adults, while foreign women teach the children? If schools can’t find enough Western women to teach Cambodian kids, they can hire Filipinas. The kids may end up speaking English with a silly Filipina accent, but at least they won’t be molested by their teachers.

3. Only give long term visas to foreigners with jobs, businesses, or spouses in Cambodia

For the first quarter century following the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Cambodia had no reason to restrict immigration from Western visitors, because no Westerner in his right mind wanted to move here. Times have changed though. The standard of living in Cambodia has improved in recent years, while economic conditions in some Western countries have significantly deteriorated.

Many Western men now view Cambodia as a desirable place to live. They may tell you that they enjoy Cambodia for the “freedom,” which apparently includes the freedom to drink their own blood and eat their own shit.

Unfortunately, Cambodia still lets absolutely any Westerner stay in the country forever, even if he is unemployed, homeless, and begging on the streets. Shockingly, Cambodia even lets Western pedophiles remain in the country after they have committed sex crimes against Cambodian children, leading to their subsequent arrests for abusing Cambodian children again and again and again.

It’s time for Cambodia to tighten its visa requirements and deport its foreign pedophiles. Send the undesirable Western dudes packing for the Philippines.

4. Interrogate and search single male travelers on arrival

I’m a single Western male who has flown into Phnom Penh airport about two dozen times. No Cambodian immigration officer has ever asked me a single question. No customs officer has ever searched my bag.

There’s a scene in the movie “Taken” where Liam Neeson’s character impersonates a French intelligence officer and tells some Albanian gangsters, “You think because we are tolerant that we are weak and helpless.” The utter indifference displayed by Cambodian customs and immigration officers creates a first impression among visitors that local law enforcement is inept and that “no one cares what I do here.” This nonchalance emboldens foreigners to misbehave once they enter the country.

Cambodia should put on a show at the airport to make foreign dudes believe they have arrived in a country with competent law enforcement that pays attention to what visitors do here. As passengers exit the plane, women and couples should be sent to the normal immigration line. Creepy single guys should be referred to a special line, where an immigration officer may ask them questions like, “What’s the purpose of your trip to Cambodia?” “How long have you lived in Thailand?” and “Ewww, why is your passport covered in vaseline?”

I sometimes get questioned and treated like a sex tourist by U.S. immigration officers when I return from Cambodia. As far as I’m concerned, that mildly humiliating experience should start in Cambodia itself. How will Cambodian immigration officers decide which foreign men to interrogate? That’s easy. Guys traveling alone. Guys wearing tank tops. Guys who look like Steve Buscemi.

Sex tourists are like cockroaches. They hate sunlight, both literally and figuratively. Shine a light on their activities by asking them questions on arrival and looking through all their luggage.

The foreigners who commit sex crimes in Cambodia are invariably found in possession of kiddie porn, dildos, handcuffs, Rohypnol, and other creepy shit.

When you find a foreigner entering the country with an entire suitcase full of condoms and Viagra, remind him that it’s illegal to have sex with children. Watch how he stammers and avoids eye contact and mutters some nonsense about being here to “see the temples.”

Even if you let the guy into the country, he’ll know that you know that he’s a disgusting pervert. This may make him less likely to misbehave during his trip. Shoplifting is deterred when store employees simply say “hello” to customers who enter, because potential shoplifters know that they’ve been noticed. Same idea.

Don’t tell me that Cambodia doesn’t have the resources to question and search foreign male visitors. Cambodians are naturally inquisitive people. It makes no sense that immigration officers who should be scrutinizing foreign visitors remain mute during every encounter, but I can’t walk ten feet down the street without a tuk tuk driver asking me where I’m going and what I’m doing. Cambodia should just deputize a bunch of volunteer motodops to work at the airport and tell them, “Go ask those white guys a lot of annoying personal questions and search their bags. Anything illegal you find, you can keep.”

5. Stop giving visas on arrival to Africans

The most important rule of a successful modern immigration policy is “Never let in immigrants from countries poorer than your own.” Very few countries are poorer than Cambodia, and most of those shitholes are located right in the middle of Africa.

Cambodia has seen an influx of dodgy African males during the last decade, from lovely places like Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Guinea, and Cameroon. Do you know why so many African dudes are moving to Cambodia? Because virtually no other country will let them in.

African men probably behave even worse in Cambodia than Western men. Sure, they may not be accomplished sex criminals, but the Africans in Cambodia have shown a strong aptitude for drug
trafficking
, fraud, robbery, and the occasional kidnap and murder.

Africans who arrive in Cambodia also regularly overstay their visas, because, let’s face it, the squalor of Phnom Penh is a fucking paradise when compared to Ouagadougou.

I propose the following solution. Every year the United Nations publishes the “Human Development Index,” a report that basically ranks all the countries on earth from nicest to crappiest. Cambodia is usually ranked about 140th, ahead of only the most screwed up countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Cambodian immigration officials should just look at that report every year and draw a big red line right under Cambodia. Anybody from a country listed below Cambodia should be denied a visa on arrival.

6. Criminalize extramarital sex between foreign men and local women

Did you know that in Vietnam, it’s illegal for a foreign man to share a hotel room with a Vietnamese woman unless they are married? Lao law similarly prohibits sexual contact between foreigners and Lao nationals if they are not married. Do some people break those laws? Of course. Forbidden sex is totally hot. It’s hotter than make up sex, and almost as hot as conjugal visit sex.

But these laws are still a major disincentive to bottomfeeding sex tourists, who always prefer the path of least pussy resistance. Vietnam and Laos both have warm weather, cheap beer, and beautiful women. Yet, thanks to these laws, they are not overrun with sex-crazed Western men like parts of Cambodia and Thailand.

Cambodian law already restricts marriage between foreign men and local women, so why not announce a few new laws restricting sex and cohabitation as well? Even if the laws prove impossible to enforce, their mere existence may slow down the tide of horny foreign men parading nightly between Street 104 and Street 136.

7. May I suggest the occasional civil war?

Cambodia’s absolute best hope of quickly clearing out its foreign dude debris would be if its ongoing election protests suddenly turn violent. Nothing will scare off the junkies and sex tourists like a nice, loud civil war and then a decade of U.N. oversight and artificially high prices.

It wouldn’t even have to be a full blown civil war. All you need is enough violence and unrest for the U.K. Foreign Office to advise against travel to Cambodia. As soon as that happens, British travel insurance will be invalidated in Cambodia. This is important, because British tourists never go anywhere without travel insurance. Few things terrify a Welshman more than the thought of having to spend his own money to see a doctor. Trust me, if a few bombs go off and the Foreign Office blacklists Cambodia, virtually all of the shirtless Brits in Sihanoukville will quickly decamp to Bognor Regis.

And when the British government advises against travel to Cambodia, the U.S. State Department will quickly follow suit, because they don’t want to be sued by some dumb American who gets shot in the ass and then complains that no one warned him that civil wars are dangerous.

Soon the sleazy French, the kinky Germans, and the drunken Australians will all disappear too. Yes, a bloody civil war that tears Cambodia apart would be totally worth it, if it meant I’d never have to see another dude like this guy basking outside Paddy Rice.

Gavinmac is a foreign dude who spends far too much time in Cambodia. His other “7 Reasons” articles can be found here.

128 thoughts on “7 Ways Cambodia Can Solve its Foreign Dude Problem

  • richard

    some good points Gav,
    get rid of the Pattaya scum that travels to Cambodia (there easy to find as they all use pattaya-addicts.com) 🙂

    But than again, it would also affect the GOOD men that do travel there. Perhaps combine a visa with a required 3 day pass to Angkor Wat for $60 for men??

    Reply
  • Angela

    Wow man, I can’t believe you’re seriously publishing this article, and Khmer440 is publishing this for you. I know you think it’s a joke, but others, especially Khmers reading it with limited English will take it seriously and not be able to tell it’s a joke. Even if they know you’re joking the impression has been made just by the pictures. I can’t believe you’re so ignorant.

    I resent being grouped together with the scumbags you describe here just for being a foreign man who lives in Cambodia. You have no crime statistics to back up your claims, and you could have done the same piece about any country in the world basically. NOT FUNNY DUDE! Please take this down and practice responsible “journalism” in the future.
    AFAIK you don’t even live in Cambodia, you’re writing from Australia stuff that hurts us who actually lives here? NOT FUNNY !

    Reply
    • andy

      Well, “Angela” (sounds creepier than anything in the article), nobody, least of all the writer, is claiming this is ‘journalism’ anyway. NOT INTERESTING SWEETHEART!

      Reply
      • Well, many a true word said in jest, and while the article may be a “lighthearted”, it clearly has barbs.

        I agree with many of the points (yeah, made as a joke, or maybe not), but you have to maintain perspective.
        The tone of the article, by use of negative space, paints Cambodia and Khmers as some kind of innocent, decent society, being fouled by the worst of the west.
        I think there are plenty of Khmers who can compete for the lowlife scum title just fine.

        Personally, I think lawyers should be banned from entering the Kingdom, or indeed from any decent society at all.

        Reply
    • Well, thanks Angela for being worried about us reading with limited English. At least dictionary could help us. But the worst thing, this article dedicate to the local authorize, they are limited English reading.

      Reply
  • Hanno Stamm

    Hmm, I live here and not only does that article NOT hurt me, I think it is funny as hell!!!

    I somehow doubt that “especially Khmers reading it with limited English” come to Khmer440 a lot. And even if they do they probably find all their stereotypes confirmed…

    Reply
    • No worry, I think most Cambodians who visited this site know understand it clearly. At least, besides the funny side, it reflects that there is not always full of good foreigners and bad Khmers. Most articles are painted negatively about Cambodians, so just this piece of a funny article, that does not hurt much. LOL

      Reply
  • Dermot Sheehan

    What kind of name for a dude is “Angela” anyway? Probably some sort of weirdo who should be deported.

    Reply
  • gharrik

    Interesting article , a lot of correct potential measures yet I (and so many others) feel discriminated . Since 10 years I take care of export of Cambodian agricultural products worldwide bringing an income for myself and the country . I live happily together with a Khmer lady and take care of her and her kids and family . I do go to 51 street (even with my GF) as one of my favorite restaurants is there and all foreigners I do meet there make an honest living, are not interested in Taxi girls neither drugs or any mafia related activity If I have to pay 500 doll a year to stay here, I (and many others) will work tomorrow in Myanmar a country with 100 times more potential than Cambodia . Sure I take my GF with me . Yet I love this country and it’s people , I stay here.
    ..
    The only solution to tackle all the problems related to sex, crime , drugs is to increase the salaries of those people that have to control the wellbeing of this country and it’s people so they will be less sensible for bribes . I do not need to bribe a custom officer at arrival in the airport;, neither a policeman in the street or a judge in the court . You forget one important thing, 70pct of the Cambodians (authority included) make their income on all the problems you mention
    in your article . It is like the EU warning for child labor…without child labor this country will go down hill as the children support their families and will keep doing till they are supported themselves by their own children . No child labor, no income ….problem…Imagine you can keep out the Pattaya and Phuket and Huan Hi and Cha am sex tourist , you think that the taxi girls from street 51/104 and 136 are going to work with their parents in the paddy fields, or will line up in the garment factory for 2.75 dollar a day ???
    Bring law and order to this country with severe measures /sanctions for those (locals and foreigners) that brake the law and all will be solved in a no time regardless if they are white, yellow , red or black .

    Reply
    • You should move Myanmar with 100 times more potential than here. Cambodia is not good enough for you. I am not sure if you know much about Myanmar. It is actually a beautiful country, but economically it is still behind this country or quite similar.

      Reply
  • Chewy

    What a ridiculous piece of writing. To paraphrase the author: “No offence, but all foreign males in Cambodia are sexually deviant rapists with a drug problem.” Apart from the fact that I’m a bit younger than the average expat, I fit all the prerequisites described in this article (male, foreign, teacher), and I take offence to such a blatant insult. But granted, apart from Khmer’s finest males being the cause of most of the grief in this country, white males are too often the perpetrators of both petty and serious crimes in Cambodia. Coincidentally, white males are the cause of most of the world’s problems, so no surprise there. Besides that, the absurd solutions proposed by the author are incredibly immature, unfathomable and, through a sudden halt to the influx of expertise, would be a death blow to the future of most Cambodians hoping to compete with the economic wolfhounds from Asian superpowers on the rise, like HK and Singapore, who are going to eat them skin and all if the Khmers don’t get their sh*t straight.

    If you truly believe that every single foreign male is a low-life scraping the bottom of the barrel to feed whatever addiction he has, you’re hanging out with the wrong people, my friend. You’re probably not so far off yourself.

    Reply
  • name

    Mmm clearly you are on a mission here, however hard you try and deny. Not a shred of your usual (sometimes very weak) efforts at humour.

    Any stats to back up your random findings would be nice. A comparison on crime in the west V in Kh, but hey, you can’t be arsed. Just write a bunch of hardline stuff. Also, no foreign women… what was that recently about the daughter of a pizzarestaurateur? Weren’t most of the recently arrested drugmules female?

    And yeah, you might not care to restrict entry since you are an affluent occasional visitor, but for many others this wonderful country is not a place to hide from authority, but just not be bothered by it. Thanks for introducing big brother and the nanny state.

    Reply
    • Chis Waldie

      I wonder how much Phnom Penh’s economy would suffer? Get rid of all the riff-raff and you could close all of the businesses on St. 104, most of the profitable businesses on 51, a large chunk of BKK1, a good chunk of the riverside and a hell of a lot of tuk-tuks. Good you may say, but how many mouths depend on the salaries and tips of these waiters, waitresses, hostesses and drivers? High-end tourists tend to spend in high-end places with very little of the money trickling down to the actual labour the services. Thailand was built on exactly these types of expats and tourists – police them a whole lot better and aim a little higher once the country’s tourist infrastructure has developed considerably for sure, but for the time being Dubai this isn’t. With regards to the female contingent, sorry but I really don’t think they spend as much as men do here – lack of female oriented entertainment venues. I am sure those stats are gender reversed in Jamaica/Dominincan Republic/etc…

      Reply
  • Dirty Expat (Dirty for short)

    As always, Gavmac has come up with a real gem! This guy is a genius!

    However, I can’t understand why he didn’t mention immigration raids as a way to solve the foreign dude problem. If Cambodian immigration officers occasionally raided the shithloles foreign dudes are known to congregate in and then put their pasty white asses on the next bus for the nearest border maybe there would be less of a foreign dude problem. Here are some shitholes I recommend they raid first.

    1) The Walkabout
    2) Sharky’s
    3) All of Sorya Mall
    4) 69 Bar
    5) Garage

    By the way, I have a bone to pick about Africans (at east West Africans). What’s up with dissin’ my homies?
    Let’s do a simple comparison. The number of West Africans in Cambodia has steadily increased over the last decade. So has the number of filthy, pasty, bloated western sexpats. West Africans don’t work (actually they do, just not in the formal economy). Bloated, pasty-skinned sexpats (I’m talking Edward Snowden white!) don’t work (they are mostly on pension). The difference is ten years later you can see West Africans rolling all around Daun Penh in nice second-hand SUVs and Camrys but the bloated pasties are still on tuk tuk.

    Lastly, My bro Gavmac forgot about all the Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean filth. Frequenting hostess bars on 136 is one thing, but full-on sexual human trafficking is another thing. You get the pervs, alcoholics, drug addicts and occasional murderers among the whities once in a while but paying to rape underage virgins is business as usual for the slant-eyes. At least they work though. The own all the garment factories…

    Reply
    • Chis Waldie

      Wow, you made it a race issue…! As Africans are world-renowned for their business acumen, honest dealings, intelligence and leadership I am sure that the success of your African brethren has come as no surprise to you. The cars the Africans drive sure are beautiful….if compared to the heaps of junk you see on the streets of Lagos. I even saw one African guy driving a Merc so new he hadn’t even taken the plastic off yet (or was it so old that he’d covered it in black tape to cover the body work? – I shit you not).

      Africans working in the “black market” is nothing new, although the poor Cambodians who have not yet been exposed to such endeavors do seem to be rather easy targets. The number of scam emails Cambodians receive is through the roof – all concocted by Africans residing there and hoping to rob the locals of the few dollars they have managed to save by constantly thinking of ways to tease their bank account details from them.

      Basically, Africans in Phnom Penh like to flash the few dollars they manage to steal through conspicuous consumption. Westerners who generally come from much wealthier backgrounds do not feel this need, hence the disparity that you seem to perceive.

      A true litmus test is to have a look outside the mini-marts in any expat area of Phnom Penh. Usually full of Africans who can’t afford the $1.50 price of a can of beer in a bar and instead choose to pay 60c – frugality maybe, penniless more like!

      Reply
      • Justice

        Chis Waldie or whatever you call yourself. If your better off than Africans in Cambodia, why did you come to Cambodia?
        I wish to let you know that not all African are bad. Am African, i live, married and work here and i have a good salary.
        Not every body like to to go the tourist places to drink. You sense of reasoning is shallow but all the same i don’t blame cos the effects if ICE in ur brain must be affecting your thinking.

        Reply
  • A sloppy,badly written,ill informed and researched article Gavinmac.
    Pathetic.

    Reply
  • chris

    implement option 2 and 6 but leave the rest mate, strewth. Get rid of Paedo’s and Black scammers, and the rest Cambodia can deal with, it has enough druggies and crooks, so dealing with westerners shouldn’t be an issue at all.

    To you wanting to up visa entry fees, dont be so stupid. Cambodia is already pricing itself out of the tourist market thanks to stupid new taxes and ‘developments’.

    A funny post, but also worrysome. Now the cambodians may implement your not all right ideas (facepalm)

    Reply
  • leon9mm

    That was a dysfunctional piece of crap from a dysfunctional mind about a dysfunctional country. .
    Is there nothing better to write than this dribble. .
    come on…..

    Reply
  • Yep. Double all visa fees. All the English teaching expats will leave the country for greener pastures.

    Reply
    • dermot sheehan

      Garage bar has a wide range of customers, only a small fraction of them are male English teachers. It would still do fine.

      Reply
  • Jest, or not, gavinmac is clearly a metrosexual feminist, and at the same time no doubt playing to the female gallery.

    So men cause all the problems in Cambodia?
    So too the world.
    Let’s outlaw men!

    But guess what, men are also responsible for most of the progress, both biologically and creatively.
    It’s because nature experiments with men’s abilities, and therefore creates exceptional outliers (but also exceptional dumbasses), because they have to compete to reproduce, while women are granted that privilege automatically.

    Reply
  • I don’t know what to call it -a pile of cliche’s or a stack of shit. Sad attempt at attention. Give it up. The “humor sucks. It’s getting to the point with these “7 assholisms” that there isn’t even any reason to read K440 anymore. What the hell is your point? Why do you care so much about what other barangs look like or are doing? Do you come to Cambodia to watch other foreigners? Really. What the fuck?

    Reply
    • “there isn’t even any reason to read K440 anymore”

      … and yet here you are reading and commenting ?

      Reply
      • William

        Lord Playboy, please note that as some one reads this article they can then say there is no reason to read khmer440 anymore.

        Presently reading but read no more. Comprehend?

        Reply
        • dermot sheehan

          Yeah, we’ll really miss you. Bye bye.

          Reply
          • David

            Maybe you faggots should learn how to read (I’m not saying that to be derogatory… ok that’s a lie, but gavinmac is so gay he’s on fire).

            “It’s getting to the point with these “7 assholisms” that there isn’t even any reason to read K440 anymore.”

            Do you know what “getting to the point” means? Of course you do, you just selectively left that portion of the sentence out because it instantly invalidates your opinion.

            As to the foreign women over here… mostly lesbians polluting the minds of very innocent children and uneducated adults… but that’s ok with you, which is just plain sick… literally, it’s a mental illness, and so is assisting them.

            I, a white man, have been here for nearly 4 years teaching children, and I’ve molested a total of “0” of them… not just physically, but mentally (as the lesbos do). I’ve also heard of maybe a handful of these so-called problems that need to be dealt with. It’s a non-issue, just like Nightline trying to tell the world that child brothels still exist (even though they’ve been gone for at least a decade now).

            If you don’t like it faggot, then leave!! Nobody cares about your rainbows and butt-sex.

  • Thanks GM. This article will clearly have plenty of long term entertainment value gauging by the responses so far.

    Reply
  • johhnybarang

    The author is actually decribing himself if you look at his history- however he comes on tourist visas.

    He is a lawyer, so expert at stirring up shit for fun and profit.

    Well done.

    I will look forward with anticipation to remarks here.

    Reply
  • Nice trolljob but whats the point of this article? Just stir up some shit?

    Reply
  • Paul Booth

    What’s the attraction of Cambodia for Gavinmac? We should be told.

    Reply
  • steve owen

    Why not ban prostitution instead, but where would gavinmac get laid if that happened?

    Reply
  • . Interesting to see all the negative reactions from those who feel threatened by the doubling bofvthe visa fees. It certainly confirms your take on how little added value they bring in, be it as residents or tourists.

    Reply
  • Gavinmac – Good introduction to article but let down by weak (& Racist)reasons
    Please explain why have you come to Cambodia 2 dozen times?

    Reply
    • dermot sheehan

      He’s been in about 100 countries, he just happens to like Cambodia.

      Reply
  • williagra

    Once again without fail, and with tongue firmly implanted in cheek, GVM gets to the core and proposes some not too outlandish solutions to what ills the Kingdom of Wonder. That this brilliant satire flies over the heads of so many is both amusing and depressing.

    Reply
    • Rainman

      williagra, my thoughts exactly, cheers.
      Waiting for pt2.

      Reply
      • gavinmac

        Thank you both. I’m glad you enjoyed it.

        Reply
    • Simon Sykes

      Exactly. Many of the comments come down to “That’s not funny,” which is nearly always a false statement. The article is not intended to be serious journalism.

      Reply
  • More brilliance from Gavinmac!

    Sadly for Cambodia it’s only going to get worse as more and more low-end foreigners resident in Thailand are looking at relocating to Cambodia which, on this side of the border at least, is perceived to be cheaper, has more relaxed visa regulations and there is more of an anything goes attitude (which appears to appeal to those relocating).

    There are even sex tours being promoted to Cambodia on Soi Nana (which if you don’t know is a major sex tourist area and one of the seediest streets in all of Bangkok).

    It’s only going to get worse and Gavinmac will have no shortage of material for a part 2.

    Reply
    • “there is more of an anything goes attitude” – so so deluded. Our Prey Saw prison is getting overcrowded with black and white foreigners as it is; let’s see how many can be crammed in.

      Reply
    • actually its Thailand thats more “anything goes” in reality

      last time i was in bangkok, i saw crystal meth pipes, swords, dildos, porn, knuckledusters, viagra, and taser guns. all openly on display in patpong nightmarket. not to forget the pingpong sex shows

      Cambodia would never allow it nowadays

      Reply
    • William

      Why you stick up for the khmer440 lot deludes me, they all hate you Thai expats, they look down on you.

      Reply
      • Yeh cos we’re all just one person really. Muppet.

        Reply
  • Nameless Observer

    It seems like you hit a nerve with a lot of people (especially guys) here, Gavinmac. You must be doing something right! 😉

    Reply
  • There’s no rebutting the truth in this article. The type of men moving in IS a serious problem and it is only getting worse. Unfortunately, poverty can often blind reason. I just hope the Cambodians think higher of us than what foreign vagrants they see mumbling and stumbling around the streets of their cities.

    Reply
  • Karl Hungus

    A good read with some valid suggestions until #7. I think the Cambodian people have been through enough. The sad and alarming thing is it could easily happen in the current political climate. But regardless, any guy planning a long-term stay in Cambodia nowadays has to be a bit off in his thinking. 10 years ago, maybe, a big maybe. But now with the place being overrun with global detritus. Nuts, absolutely nuts.

    Reply
  • Well, I hope the article was a joke, otherwise I would recommend a local visit to the next doctor…

    Reply
    • Peter Hogan

      The article is dead serious, Tony. All the moany old white men should be deported. Especially you.

      Reply
  • MekongMonkey

    Most western expats here can’t even string a sentence together so I doubt they could actually understand this article while others have probably sold their laptop to pay for next months rent so they won’t even see this masterpiece.

    Oh how I wish Cambodia could have something similar to the Pattaya Flying Club. I would have pamphlets made up and distribute around Soriya Mall. Suggestions are most welcome.

    Reply
  • Arthur Fannin

    The weird old prowlers, mumbling nutters and shaky druggies are part of the texture of the Cambodia we know and love.

    The residence visa setup is just fine the way it is. If anything, it ought to be reduced in price so we could spend that amount of dosh on consciousness-altering substances and agreeable experiences.

    Reply
  • You speak like an absolute fool, generalising way too much. You are a complete idiot. People like you should be locked up themselves !

    Reply
  • Gavinmac, you can always F off to singapore if you like

    Reply
  • William

    Rubbish article and I suppose gavinmac will ridicule all who do not agree with his rubbish writing.

    I believe most crimes in Cambodia are committed by Cambodians and most underage sex committed by Cambodians as well.

    I believe Cambodians created their underage brothels and love to have sex with young girls, the western man is small fry when it comes to underage sex in Cambodia.

    Reply
  • William

    When is this kind of article going to end? It makes a joke of khmer440 and makes a joke of Cambodia, expats in Pattaya must be laughing in their seats at us here, we look like muppets.

    Expats in Pattaya have more cash and more ideas including business ideas than all the expats in Cambodia ten fold put together and so khmer440 guys should stop attacking them.

    I notice so many khmer440 guys hate backpackers, English teachers, sexpats, sex tourists, western women, street 51, hostess bars and many others. Why, why, why the attacking all the time?

    Why not make 2014 the year that khmer440 has a look at its self?

    Reply
    • dermot sheehan

      We hate guys called William too.

      Reply
  • Apart from some of the links to amusing / tragic / mind-boggling incidents involving Expats in Cambodia at the start of the article, the rest comes off as – at best – a poor attempt at humour. At its worst, it offers a juvenile and glib take on what is, in the harsh reality of a developing nation such as Cambodia, a relatively minor issue, that of the misbehaviour of a small demographic of male tourists.
    Perhaps most troubling is not Gavinmac resorting to increasingly asinine arguments in an attempt to win a cheap laugh but the fact that he clearly has an excellent knowledge of Cambodia and has decided to use this to write a ‘funny’ article which can only be to its detriment.

    Reply
  • I have lived in Patong, Phuket, Thailand for 17 years. I have also worked, at my own expense for a non religious NGO in Calcutta a few years prior to that.
    I have spent considerable time in Phnom Penh over the last year or so and this article reads like a reflection of many conversations I have had in the rarefied heady atmosphere of that countries ‘aid’ community. Typically in the better and more exclusive eateries and bars in that city where they tend to congregate. Their attitude to anyone out of their demographic, young and beautiful and working on a US level salary for some NGO (in many cases NNGO – Nearly Non Government Agency) then you were obviously a sex tourist. As I am fat and well over 40, I could feel the judgement being made as I entered many of these places.
    This article reads like their moaning, in every expat community moaning is a common disease, yet the target for these expats was other expats who weren’t like them and this is sophistry of the lowest order.
    The article failed on all levels of journalism and to add insult to injury, it wasn’t even funny.

    Reply
  • Vanthy

    It’s a badly written, Giv. U looked only one side.
    Cambodia only applies for culture, bio or historic tourism. But why the stupid men like u come? U wrote yr activities and yr actitute either what u need, right? With yr badly points view, should thinking that yr country doesn’t exclude (also countries).
    If campare to yr country, I am only very very small point than situation in yr country.

    Giv, U R A STUPID RECORDER by my view. U should think about affect and effect with yr article. I hope u understand what I post this comments with my limited English. :-((

    Reply
  • This is the most sexist article I’ve (partially) read in a long time. Boils down to men are to be treated with significant suspicion and be actively discriminated against.

    Reply
  • SE Asian dude

    It’s a joke man. The article is a joke.

    If anyone thinks GM actually believes his suggestions would or could be implemented is taking this way too seriously, jeez. Not as funny as his other 7 reasons articles, but I liked it.

    Reply
  • SE Asian dude

    It’s a joke man. The article is a joke. (and I’m American)

    If anyone thinks GM actually believes his suggestions would or could be implemented is taking this way too seriously, jeez. Not as funny as his other 7 reasons articles, but I liked it.

    Reply
  • BangkokJones

    In short, Cambodia is a place for the kind of expat loser (I prefer to call them “runaways”) who can’t even afford to live in Bangkok or Pattaya. This applies to both sexes equally, though of course the males are far more likely to indulge in the naughty nightlife of Cambodia. I feel privileged to be able to live in a sophisticated international city like Bangkok, having twice visited Phnom Penh and been appalled at how primitive it all is and how the expats there are way lower than even the worst that Thailand can attract. If you find yourself having to live in Cambodia as a foreigner, congratulations, you have truly reached the bottom of the barrel.

    Reply
    • dermot sheehan

      I hate Thailand, and Thais, with their upside-down frowns called “smiles”. Why anyone would choose to live in a fucked-up country like that, especially in that sewer-beach city Pattaya, or that horrible city along the fetid Chrao Praya river? There’s nothing sophisticated about those cities, they’re just lame imitations of western cities full of hookers and ladyboys. The country can’t even keep a government together for more than a couple of years, it’s a pathetic mess.

      Reply
  • I visited Cambodia once, as a 22 year old tanker in the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, along with thousands of other young American males, in President Richard Nixon’s long forgotten Cambodian invasion to wipe out the NVA and VC base camps during 1970.

    The campaign was a real downer from a military standpoint, as the cowardly Communists simply refused to commit suicide by attacking our armored columns well supported by Army attack helicopters and the fast movers of the U.S. Force (RATS!)

    I always wanted to return to the country and do a tour without the M-60A3 model tank and the 11th ACR, but never around to it.

    Reply
    • dermot sheehan

      Unfortunately your country’s “intelligence” was way behind your enemy’s. If you had invaded 2 months earlier you might have had some success. Instead you just made things worse, and the communists were two steps ahead of you. A shame really.

      Reply
  • Brilliant! Hilarious! Of course the gormless miss the point entirely. Fluoride doing it’s job I suppose.

    Reply
  • I found it hysterical.

    I live in China, have done for seven years, and when I arrived, even if the article is only half correct, China was in the same situation. The middle aged of most western countries were rampaging around much as described above.

    Now, the situation has completely altered, not least due to a few of Gavin’s suggestions.

    You want to be an English teacher? Show a degree, two years experience, a TEFL/TESL/Celta etc AND BE RECRUITED OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY. Arrive on a Tourist Visa, get a Foreign Expert Certificate from the Min. of Ed. convert through Hong Kong to a one year working visa.

    Plan to slip in on a Tourist Visa and get employed? 90 days only, leave the country (perhaps to Hong Kong) to get an extension, two weeks only. Return to your home country to re-apply.

    Get lifted doing anything sexually unacceptable? 15 days detention and deportation.

    Married to a National? One year Resident Permit, sir. Two years if you’re over 60. The cheapest visa in China.

    It can be done, it should be done. Some of us resent being tarred with the low life brush.

    95% of expats in my city boost the image of their home country now and are looked up to, accepted and respected.

    Reply
  • The old man problem is pretty serious but they will pile out once the weather turns bad. What can you expect though the prices in western countries to live off ones pension is way to high. I teach at night..I dont see what all the hate over teaching is about. What makes all of you so special? Most foreigners here come and go within a 2 or 3 years the faces change alot.

    Reply
  • dr bob bruce

    0bvisly this story is ritten by some man hating hairy legged full blown carpet munching dike who needs a good root to straighten her out or the riter is a stark raving poof who hates the foreigner in cambodia picking us bar girls and rejecting his sick perverted ways…..

    Reply
  • Nice as usual. You must be bloody thick skinned though to put up with the abuse you get – but you have had me pissing myself laughing a few times. I confirm I am not a spammer.

    Reply
  • guecko

    Death sentence should be applyed to all these scumbags. and if there is no efficient justice in this country to do so ..well a “Dexter like” scumbags hunter should do the cleaning ^^ Be honnest, you’ve already imagined yourself beating to death one of these sleazy motherfuckers 😉

    Reply
  • Drexl Spivey

    I love the irony that this sanctimonious, naive rubbish was written by a lawyer: the most pernicious, hypocritical, vile, immoral, money grabbing, bottom-feeding profession in the history of mankind (and I use the word profession in its loosest possible sense).

    Reply
  • anonymous

    It is ridiculous that travellers have to pay so much just to experience another type of Asiatic hell. It is sad that Westerners foreigners end up being mistreated for no other reason than because they have run out o money to give to those grasping khmers who have no empathy for others.
    Another reason not to travel or live or work in Asia.

    Reply
  • wow gavinmac you truly are a man hating douchbag …

    Reply
  • sokunthea

    who are you?It’s true ,you’re not a Cambodian why you so clear about Cambodia.Do you know how old is Cambodia starts? I warn you if you write stupid writing more about Cambodia you’ll regret for it.

    Reply
  • Enjoyed reading the article and agree with most of it. Look forward to the next publishing.

    Reply
  • So.this means the Cambodian government is following the sound of money and does not care who’s coming in to the country. Am I right?

    Reply
  • AlegreViajero

    Nameless Observer said it right in just one short sentence: « It seems like you hit a nerve with a lot of people (especially guys) here, Gavinmac. You must be doing something right! »

    Yes, I believe 100% that your article is right, and the first 6 solutions are darn right also – leaving aside the civil war just for now… and the free visa for females! Hum…! And how daring it was to put up-front to the public all these pictures. They reveal their baseness and wretchedness. They are truly miserable human wrecks.

    I live in Vietnam since 2009 (now in Nha Trang) for the exact reasons mentioned above: unless you are REALLY looking for it, mostly in the two capitals, the streets of Vietnam are generally cleaned of prostitution and disgusting drunkards – except for the locals viets themselves. Oh yes, there are some brothels, some drug and more and more blacks. They all fit together. Again, in the capitals.

    Visa, although very accessible, are always something to plan ahead because it keeps changing all the time. The 1st visa on arrival at the airport cost about $65-$70; the 2nd 3-month extension, $38, the 3rd $64. Yes, you can now stay 9 months in Vietnam without a visa-run. Then you need to make that visa-run to Cambodia for a new 3-month visa. Let’s say for one year, including the run, about $400. (I will now feel embarrassed at the frontiers next time…)

    I hope, after leaving Thailand, than possibly Cambodia, those sex maniacs, predators and addicts of all kinds don’t find refuge in Vietnam. They seem to be migrating east… Good Lord! It is funny that I was for the future considering Cambodia… I sincerely love those people and their smiles… and most speak English! This article makes me rethink this option…

    I will now keep reading you for a long time Maître Gavinmac. Keep saying it loud and clear.

    Reply
    • I fully agree with you that Cambodia should do everything to avoid becoming a refuge for scumbags (like NYC or the City of London have long been–the scumbags there wear expensive suits and dresses of course but they’re of the worst sort). And any activity that exploits the powerless, especially minors, those who depend on the care of adults and thus are the most tragic victims of adult predation, is absolutely immoral. Of course, any consumption of corporate products in Cambodia enables and contributes to the exploitation of the powerless, including many minors, be it garment workers, or those young people laboring 10-hour days in shoe factories unprotected against toxic glue fumes in unventilated factories owned by foreigners, run by Khmers, and made profitable by consumers unaware of or unconcerned about the consequences of their choices.

      To be sure, the sexual exploitation of minors is without doubt one of the worst of the worst offences against children in Cambodia or anywhere else. Foreigners who come here with that in mind are undesirables of the worst sort and should be completely unwelcome. And Cambodia would no doubt do well to follow the examples of Vietnam (where, apparently, there’s no prostitution–who knew?–except no doubt for that “practiced” by Khmers).

      What is objectionable, aside from the implications of prejudging who’s unwelcome, is painting all men of a certain age (or according to the writer any age) with one brush. The humor defense is disingenuous; it’s not a humorous topic and the writer has made his attitudes about it very clear elsewhere.

      At best it’s passive-aggressive sniping or as I noted earlier, maybe even indicative of projection on his (or her) part. The writer seems quite prone to over-generalizing; when combined with such unmitigated moral outrage it is toxic regardless of how disgusting (in this case, very) the legitimate targets are.

      Finally, it may well be most empowering to Cambodians to find a Khmer/Asian solution to the problem rather than blindly follow the self-righteous prescriptions of self-entitled moral arbiters from countries in Europe and North America where prostitution and child-abuse are wide-spread, and pornography of the most extreme sorts is availbe every where there’s an internet connection. We don’t really have much of a moral high ground to stand on, do we?

      Reply
  • Gavinmac, you really need to look inside your own perverted mind. I’d begin by looking into the psychological phenomenon known as “projection.” Your over-the-top condemnation of anything or anyone you deem “creepy” is a red flag. Seek help before you abuse any Khmer people yourself.

    Reply
  • I’ll follow up by, first, retractting a bit–I shouldn’t assume you have a perverted mind; but “thou protesteth too much.” I’ve read a number of your numerous posts here and elsewhere about this topic, and like the right-wing closeted homosexual who condemns homosexuality at every opportunity, your condemnatory over-generalizations, never mind your obvious love for the word “creepy” is a warning sign that you may well yourself harbor feelings and thoughts about abusing under-age Khmer girls, or boys, or both!

    Along with psychological projection, I advise you to look into the concept “attitudes are antidotal.” Some of the other starched-collar moralists spitting venom at all foreign men over 45 visiting Cambodia would benefit, no doubt, from no small amount of the same honest introspection.

    What about a 51-year-old man who comes to Cambodia to see–Cambodia! Can you believe that might actually happen? And aside from finding much to love in this still-Asian country (i.e. not westernized like most every Asian country has become) he falls in love with a Khmer woman in her late 20s, one who has a .00001% chance of marrying anyone any more because she’s “too old”? But thanks to this “all barang men over 45 are creepy pervs” meme you so fully support (oh yes you do, don’t weasel out of it with claims of writing humour) is legally barred from doing so.

    This situation is the wet dream of unreflective, self-righteous moralists like you everywhere. Speaking of creepy…….

    Reply
  • I’ll add that the references to African cities you’ve very very likely never visited or have no real knowledge of as “shitholes” betrays your typical Western neo-colonial mentality, something so prevalent among represssed-guilt-assuaging do-gooders in “3rd world” countries (like NGO staff living their 1st-world lives behind A/C-cooled curtains while helping out the “poor” Khmers).

    Let’s see if you or like-minded others can muster a more sophisticated response than “I’m rubber and you’re glue” or baseless ad-hominem attacks.

    Reply
    • gavinmac

      I’ve actually been to Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea, and Sierra Leone. I’ve also been to Ouagadougou. They are all shitholes. I invite you to visit them and report otherwise, unless you’re too racist and afraid to go to Africa.

      Reply
      • Mark

        Where exactly have you been to in the Nigeria, Ghana, Guinea and sierra Lone?

        I have traveled extensively in Nigeria and Ghana and they are not shitholes; in fact they are arguably cooler places to live in . Your ignorance is baffling. If you were half an authority as you claim you are, you know that Cambodia and its neighbors (except china) do not generally rank high in the list of destinations Africans go to. Nigeria: population 170million, total number of nigerians in Vietnam in 2013 (which is much more prosperous than Cambodian) less than 700.

        Reply
      • I just went through the HDI list and there are atleast 20 African and Afro-Caribbean countries that are well ahead of Cambodia. Even Ghana, which the poster singled out. People that can generalise the second largest continent on earth, with over 45 countries are ignorant asf; as are you :).

        Reply
  • The sad irony of your apparent “desire” for a civil war in Cambodia is that it is largely due to a civil war 20 years ago that much of the current situation we detest exists today..

    Reply
  • Wow! I did not read all the comments, but let me maybe be the first to congratulate you on being provocative. Provocative PLUS! I went to Thailand and Cambodia for the first time this past year. My reality is a bit tame and limited (I spent New Year’s Eve in a hotel bar, listening to jazz and editing my photos. Lol) But I did dabble a bit with consenting adults, and feel NO guilt or defensiveness.

    I saw little of what you talk about, but do believe it is out there. My hours and venues out simply did not mesh with theirs. But I read enough, and saw peripheral signs, to believe there is some of that going on. And some is too much. I draw a large, thick, broad bright line at sex with minors.

    You wrote with humor, exaggeration, hyperbole, with instances of genius, common sense, and silliness.
    Good writing? Yes! You were never boring.

    You have a country in extreme poverty. Many are trying to solve this problem. Some are exploiting it.

    Thanks for the awakening of awareness.

    Reply
    • Let me amend. Your suggestion of a civil war was a bit much. A nice, clean, staged and efficacious civil war outside the farang streets on Phnom Pehn and Siem Reap as a cleansing experience is a tad calloused given very recent history.

      BUT I do not believe in condemning for going a bit too far in one section of your diatribe.

      Reply
  • That would have to be the most sickest piece of shit journalism Iv ever read. Man are you one fucked up dude ! Id wouldn’t be surprised if you were plagued with unhealthy fantasies of Germane Greer? Iv been going to these places for the last 6 years and the vast majority of foreigners I met were decent kind people. Which is why a lot of Asian women like being with them, another reason why Asian girls like the company of Foreign men is because a lot of the local men treat them like dogs, also you conveniently left out the report on child abuse by INTERPOL which clearly stated that at least 85% of child abuse is committed by local Asian men. I once asked a Thai Barman, where are all these dirty molesters that are supposed be on every street corner, that the western media keeps harping on about, he angrily replied that their Government was making a serious effort to clean up that type of garbage, he said, even if they managed to shoot every one them, the western media will still find them under ever bed. He ended the conversation with a very interesting point and that is , the only ones that see this type of crap are the ones who go looking for it. so it begs the question. What the fuck! were you getting up to over there? Not only was this story the work of a complete and utter Wanker, but also a person with a guilty conscience.

    Reply
  • Louise Belhavel

    Sad to say, Cambodia is currently in the process of being cleaned up.

    Not so long ago, a bowl of grass and a supply of Rizlas were available for the free use of guests staying in the ramshackle guesthouses on the now-vanished foetid lake.

    A few years from now the Blue Meanies will have stamped out irresponsible joyful hedonism once and for all.

    Reply
  • I know many Africans especially from West Africa deal in drugs and exhibit despicable manners but, are there Africans who are living clean lives there? Not every African you meet is a drug dealer, beggar or a murderer. My team who are successful venture capitalist were planning to come and for a week train and invest in young Cambodians, we saw this article and because we have done so much in Africa and have special relationship there, we feel like cancelling our intention.

    Reply
  • Kevin James

    From reading this article, I imagine Gavinmac to be one of those bitter, fat white lady NGO’s who hang out at the FCC, whom nobody wants to shag any more.

    Reply
    • pelagic

      i concur. anyone with this much hate against males and only sees negativityl has a pretty big chip on their shoulder. i hate racism in any form. u can call this satire but it attempts to send a message that maybe is rightfully so in some form. Although the points are all generalizations across the whole gender. its sad this is done at this age which doesnt help anything.

      Reply
  • you are an idiot! I have read some crap since researching my second visit to the kingdom you are now number on on my idjit scale the close second place getter was a guy boasting he did three women in one night and refused to pay for sex and didn’t use protection! foreign men flee to Cambodia,,.. women don’t! they don’t have the non feminine thunder thigh expat female can do what they want say what they want wear what they want Abuse who they want and have forgotten what it means be feminine and take every friggin cent you have saved accumulated in your life time and have the cops drag you out of your own home and leave you on the street .. but that’s legal you are a door knob!!!! and ill take Asian women and their way of life anytime

    Reply
  • dick butkis

    you take what you can get. attracting wealthy visitors that are not perverts is not something the country is able to do.

    don’t see many honeymooning couples around either, what are you talking about?

    Reply
  • Singling out Africans? Why not Brits and Germans, who seem to commit most of the sex crimes?

    Reply
  • alcapisce

    Wish I hadn’t read this article, discrimination always make me feel sad.

    Reply
  • Justice

    Gavinmac………………….you are BOMBOKLAT

    Reply
  • i bet the author of this article voted for obama. so let’s go with open borders for cambodia. obama likes open borders.

    Reply
  • Philip Kiko

    I am offended by this article. I am a 28-year-old man who just finished teaching English in Costa Rica for two years and you are saying here that you should ban somebody like me from teaching in Cambodia. I understand that there have been many disgusting foreigners visiting Southeast Asia, but don’t be racist. Not all foreign men are like that. You are saying that you yourself want to be banned from Cambodia? Is this just a troll article or are you really filled with these very, very twisted ideals?

    Reply
  • This is the wild west!!! The good the bad and the ugly. I love Cambodia. However recently in the UK, gangs of drunken women on their way home from hen parties have starting raping/sexually assaulting men who had the good/bad luck to find themselves alone on the street. Is this a sign of the future?

    Reply
  • So practically turn men into second class citizens, just because. *slowclap*

    When i am in cambodia i am a foreign man. I am doing nothing of the aforementioned and i don’t plan to.

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  • I have to totally agree with this article. I’ve seen all of what has been happen among many foreign men coming to Cambodia. Not all but many. And I don’t have to go anywhere, its in the papers, on the news, and on the streets. I have a friend who worked with a church based from Africa and really it was a front to do drug trafficking. He put in a complaint to the police and after a while the people involved, (the so called pastor) was arrested with his friends. I also saw several foreign men walk around the markets drunk and high on drugs looking like they haven’t had a bath and a decent meal in days on end. Also another friend told me that he was helping a British man with some trouble he was having with money for his visa only to discover that his visa was 6 months over due and he had to pay the fine, but after he gave his friend the money his friend took off never to be seen again. There were some horrible bloody stories out there. Cambodia has enough problems of its own let alone having foreign men cause havoc too.

    Reply
  • We could also conclude that it’s allways english native speakers who cause disorders whatever country they go. So do ask UK, US,… to keep their own dirty at home.

    Reply
    • euroyankee2003

      It’s usually Germans with 7 year old children swinging from their genitals. Don’t even start that bullshit.

      Reply
  • euroyankee2003

    The 8th, and most effective way to rid westerners from a third world country is to spread the word about a new, very aggressive AIDS epidemic… or perhaps an incurable black syphilis outbreak.

    Kill two birds with one stone and blame the outbreaks on African foreigners!

    The westerners will stop coming, and the locals will drive the Africans out. Win/Win!

    Are you prepared to play dirty or just watch and scowl? Or is this filthy western money more important to the Cambodian government than protecting its people?

    Reply
  • salman rushdie

    sounds 2 me that there is only one foreign dude who is a problem. his name of course Gavinmac. when is someone going to solve that problem?

    Reply
    • Lex Talionis

      Salmon Rushdie are you issuing a Fatwa on Gavinmac? rich

      Reply
  • wolfkin

    It starts out like a semi-reasonable, semi-facetious article on the problems in Cambodia.. and them bam

    >Children are loud, annoying, germ rockets who are best cared for by women anyway. It’s quite unnatural for an adult male to ever want to spend time with any children other than his own.

    shocking sexism. I happen to find children fascinating. They’re hilarious to trick because unlike animals they learn. I don’t want to have sex with them but I like watching them laugh. It’s unusual but not unnatural to find children something other than repulsive.

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  • Fucking hypocritical moralfaggotry suxx0r! Just make a favor for this world and kill yourself.

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  • Clearly this is a joke, somewhat funny I suppose ,having said this I hope you understand you do a disservice to those who are here trying to do some good (yes we middle aged and near middle aged men do go to impoverished countries and try and make the world a little better ), as cynical as you may be, it does happen !

    Finally we can all agree get rid of the kiddy fiddlers , the creepers (?) not really, they spend big, much more than the cheap skate back packers, or the lady do gooders . With the Camodian tourist industry in it’s near infancy they should take what they can get , when things improve economically (should it ever happen – which I doubt / due to it’s heavy hitter nieghbours Vietnam and Thailand , than it can clean up it’s borders, just as Thailand has done

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  • John Torrington

    all these problems could be solved and stopped overnight if the governments stopped prostitution. It is illegal in Thailand, but the police are happy to ignore it and take the hefty bribes from bar owners. Cambodia has a similar corrupt structure that turns a blind eye to the native ‘ladies’ whoring themselves. If there was no sh1t the flies would not come. Harsh words, but this article ignores to causes and basks in the glory of highlighting the outcome(s). People are free to do as they wish, Cambodia has shown it is happy to offer an environment that is ripe for corruption and abuse – if they do not like it they should police it and act. But they don’t …….. If the author is that unhappy with what he sees in Cambodia, I have to ask if he is being held against his will? The doors are not looked, you can leave when you want.

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  • PK-AK-47

    My last trip to Vietnam, every time i ventured out alone unaccompanied by my wife i was approached and offered drugs and sex. I didn’t go looking for it, it was offered to me in Da Nang, Hue and Saigon. I was unceremoniously asked, ” you want boom boom?” as if i was in some low budget movie.

    Vietnam is not Cambodia, but the point is not everyone visiting that region is looking for illicit entertainment.
    Good point made earlier about requiring “English teachers” to have legitimate certification and experience could help to limit a source of income to those who use that income for nefarious recreation.

    A final point ANYONE advocating a war as a way to solve a country’s problems is a moron and clearly never been in one. When you have been obligated to stand and face hostile enemy fire then maybe you could suggest that. And if you have and still suggest it, you are an even bigger moron than i thought.

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    • James Bong

      The difference compared to Cambodia is if you take their offer they’ll take your money and leave you with a lump in your throat, and your pants.

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  • Carmel Taylor

    I can see your point. There are two main things to consider here. Out of the 4 million visitors to Cambodia each year, you only hear about the 100 or whatever, that cause a problem, yeah they just happen to be male. You never hear about the other 3.999.900 that go there to spend money legitimately. A large amount of this money is absorbed by currupt or rich Cambodians with over charging and profiteering. Why, because there Western tourists. Thats discrimination. This is one way to loose the tourist dollar and this will effect the Cambodian economy. My second point is that out of all Terrorist attacks in the last 10 years. I am led to believe that 98% comes from Islamic extremists. mmmm, thats a pretty high percentage. So does that mean we should ban islamic migration and or refugees wether it be by the front door or the back door ?

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  • oisin

    Hey Gavin,

    My wife is from Ghana.
    Come down to Cork and diss Ghana and Ghanaians to my face big man.
    Ya I’m calling you out.

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    • sss

      People are so racist, not all africans people are bad and not all white people are bad, instead of asking the government to ban a country because few mans from that country has committed something unlawful, why not just ban BAD PEOPLE??

      To stop this problem in Thailand and Cambodia, they should really apply the singapore way of treating people

      There you meet good african, good white people and a good asian, People leave in a peaceful life and singapore welcome almost every countries to its territory. Think smartly Gav, not stupidly

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  • Cambodian dudes engage in all of the disgusting behavior this article attributes to foreign men, but Cambodian dudes do it on a much more massive scale. The first NGO that I effectively shut down was just outside the east gate of Taprohm temple. The director borrowed kids from families in the nearby village of Rohal. He promised the families kickbacks from the donations he received from visiting foreigners and volunteers. He trained the kids to pretend to be orphans to induce visitors to the fake school for orphans to give more money. He used his website to invite random people to teach for an hour after their temple visit. I was on site when a Dutch man and his family rolled up in a tuktuk and the man handed the director $300 in cash. The money disappeared. I called a meeting of the main sponsors and the the little fake orphanage was forced to close.

    The Cambodian government, meaning Cambodian MEN, license these bogus NGOs, and thus created the foundation for all of the demoralizing behavior described in Gavinmac’s post above. All such NGOs inevitably pay the Apsara Authority kickbacks as well (those located within its domain.) This is the largest scale interaction between foreigners and local people because it is estimated that two million foreigners visit the temples every year. Many of them stop at the bogus orphanages scattered throughout the Angkor temple complex. Ii worked in this area for four years. I speak fluent Khmer language, and have met hundreds of families around the area. The only “orphans” I met are adults who lost their parents to genocide and civil war. There is actually a demographic survey of Cambodia which shows the number of orphanages increasing as the number of orphans decreases dramatically since 1989.

    During my four years of humanitarian work in villages near Siem Reap, I did encounter the occasional deviant. A French man came to teach music at one of the villages where I worked. His second night there the police called me and said that he was found swimming naked in Srah Srong, the temple lake across from Banteay Kdey temple. He returned to the city and was not permitted to do additional teaching in our village. However, he did jump from one of the wooden bridges near the Arts Market, according to a street kid I know who begs in that area every night. But apparently for the purpose of swimming, which he demonstrated a passion for.

    I do not disagree with any aspect of Gavinmac’s often humorous portraits of foreign and Khmer interactions. But regarding the article above, I think it’s worth putting into proportion by comparing the deplorable acts of Cambodian men. After all, the killers survived the genocide, and many of them are operating the current “government” of Cambodia.

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  • Good riddance to these people. But what a shame for Cambodia. We need to find one place in the world to shove of these losers and let them have their own city. In the meantime, Thailand is still a great place to be to teach English Teaching English Jobs in Thailand

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  • What to think of a single 40-something man who:

    Came to Cambodia specifically wanting to get a job rescuing little girls from sexual slavery, and;

    works as an English teacher teaching English to little girls?

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  • After living in Thailand for 3 years and visiting Cambodia a number of times I have to say that Im not in the least offended by this article/essay. During those 3 years I spent a total of 2 days and 1 night in Pattaya before getting the fuck out as fast as I could. That place seems to be a magnet for the worst of the worst the west has to offer the world. Cambodia , from my perspective, didnt seem too far off from pattaya in certain places and almost passed for a low budget version of the aforementioned. I take this essay with a grain of salt as it strikes me as comedy more than anything else but there is a lot of truth in it, although I would never rank Nigerian fraudsters below Western pedophiles in terms of undesirability. It seems that those who “protesteth too much” are exactly the people this piece is about. Until things change over there Cambodia will probably remain the proverbial storm drain gutter of the West full of sleazy white pirates and cowboy types.

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  • The Cambodian government is allowing pedophiles of the west and the Africans in the country. Visas are not free so the money trail starts with the Cambodian government. The sex tourism is a big part of the economy so the people catering to this business is biggest problem.

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  • Jonathon Maclean

    Load of predictable,sexist stereotypical Crap, change the record
    What’s your excuse being in Cambodia Gavin Mac Maybe youre a drunken middle aged sexpest nonce as well.

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  • Iurii

    Post made by racist , and full of discrimination. The most people is using drugs in Cambodia is khmers , the most people that rape children in Cambodia is khmers, the most people who lie , kill , sell drugs , prostituting and etc all this is khmers . Take statistics from police department. Foreners make less then 1% of crimes

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