Cambodia general observations

Cambodia general observations

My previous trips to Cambodia were up to one week, but now I have been staying over 6 months and some points that are irrelevant for one week become important. See here as well: https://christianpfc.blogspot.com/2017/06/cambodia-general-observations-jun-2017.html

Convenience Stores
There are various convenience store chains, and the first 7-Eleven 
will open soon.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50851317/phnom-penhs-first-7-eleven-advertises-job-vacancies/ May 5, 2021
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50863230/cambodias-first-7-eleven-opening-next-month/ May 27, 2021

But of all the convenience stores I checked, none has microwavable food and a microwave. This comes in very handy in Thailand a few times every year that you can have a decent meal any time. But during lockdown in Cambodia I would have used this several times in a month!

Cost of living
In my case cost of living is a bit more expensive than Thailand (estimate, no exact numbers), but many others say life is cheaper in Cambodia.

If you look at the shelves in shops or branded goods anywhere, most is imported from Thailand or Vietnam (judged by Thai or Vietnamese script, and some stuff I recognize from Thailand). That means this stuff is more expensive in Cambodia than in Thailand or Vietnam, at the same time Cambodia being poorer.

It seems only the following are produced locally: agriculture and forestry, some mining, bricks, and children (of all ages, in large numbers, everywhere).

Dust
Even in central Phnom Penh, there is dust everywhere (same for Vientiane). In markets, merchandise that has been lying for a day has dust on it. Businesses have to dust their tables and merchandise daily.

In the countryside along the roads, plants are covered in rust-colored dust.

Food
Khmer street food is more expensive and less tasty than Thai food. This is a general judgment by everyone I talked to. For a rant about bone splinters, see link in first paragraph.

As a small upside: the pumpkin seed I bought here are tastier than those I had in Thailand.

Not relevant for me, but can be important for others: the choice of wine is larger and prices are cheaper, and you can get a glass of beer during happy hour from 0.50 USD.

Grab and Passapp
I use grab in Phnom Penh, my local friends use passapp. With passapp you can call a tuktuk without giving a destination, and the price will be calculated based on distance just like a taximeter. That’s what one Khmer friend told me. However I and a German friend have been quoted travel costs by boys and girls that are about twice of what I would pay by grab. Did they use passapp just to call the tuktuk and then negotiate a fare that is higher than by meter?

When calling a tuktuk by grab, I pay about the same as for a taxi in Bangkok, but it’s less safe and comfortable.

Infrastructure
Public transport, electricity, mobile phone network. You could say the infrastructure of Cambodia is the infrastructure of a Thai province stretched over a country. There are power outages of (combined, average) 1 hour per month. Poor or no mobile signal in the countryside.

Mobile phone operators
Mobile network less dense than in Thailand. Costs similar. All the following observations for prepaid SIM-cards. I have a plan with which I can do all my calling (insignificant) and mobile data (estimated 10 GB per month) for 5 USD per month.

Keeping SIM-cards active during absence is much more difficult and/or expensive than in Thailand. I got a SIM from “smart” which allows to extend validity by 90 days for 2 USD (have yet to try, and see if you can repeat this process).

A Farang friend is abroad and has to top-up his “cellcard” SIM-card to keep his number active for his return and has amassed 100 USD balance, just to keep his SIM-card active!

That money is more or less lost. In my case, I spend 5 USD/month on data plan and get 30 days validity. I had a look at various local friends’ balance/validity, and they all were in the range of 1 USD balance and 1 week validity. That means my Farang friend will be pushing those 100 USD balance ahead of him with no useful way to spend it.

Thailand wins hands down! I had amassed 1 year validity on my SIM-cards (AIS and true) from normal use, and only after that year out of Thailand I had to ask friends still in Thailand to top-up to keep my cards valid, and when I’m back I will be able to use that money.

Similar Myanmar, my SIM-card was valid for one year, but because it might be longer until I can return to Myanmar, I let it expire.

Money exchange
USD widely accepted, in tourist areas prices are displayed mostly in USD. A great advantage for US-American, and I like this system as well. At the time of writing, 1 USD = 4000 or 4100 KHR rounded in retail, 1 USD = 4070 KHR at bank, 1 EUR = 1.20 USD.

Before Covid, money exchangers had very competitive rates (spread about 1%), but now due to low volume higher spread (5%).

When I sent money to a friend in Cambodia via Transferwise (now just Wise), there were high fees (about 50 EUR fees for a transfer of 500 EUR) by other intermediaries. Not Wise’s fault, but makes sending money by them highly uneconomical. Details here: https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?21466-How-to-send-money-to-Cambodia
 
Banks alphabetical, maximum withdrawal amount, fee, notes.
ABA max 500 USD, fee 6 USD.
BRED (max 1000 USD?), fee 4 USD.
Canadia Bank max 500 USD, fee 5 USD (info from friend).
Sacombank (max 1000 USD?), fee 1.5% or max 4 USD shown on 
screen, but in reality fee 5 USD.
See here as well: https://www.movetocambodia.com/practicalities/free-phnom-penh-atms/

My credit card has a daily limit of 1000 EUR, but when I tried to get 1000 USD there were error messages. I worked down 900, 800 error messages, but finally got 700 USD. Asked my bank: the daily limit is 1000 EUR, but there is a limit of 600 EUR per transaction.

So now I have it optimized to withdrawing 700 USD at BRED with a fee of 4 USD.

No change
Sometimes when I purchase something at the market and pay with a banknote (the smallest denomination above the price of the goods), the seller has to rummage through his bags and pockets to search for change, or even has to ask his neighbor to change the note into smaller.

Similar for tuktuk. I had four trips that cost about 16 kKHR (4 USD) and paid with a 20 kKHR note (5 USD). In two cases, the driver did not have change! Just an attempt to get the difference as tip?

People
Several foreigners I met here used to live or work in Thailand, but moved here because they find Khmer are nicer than Thai. In general I didn’t notice a difference*, but gay boys in Cambodia are much nicer than gay boys in Thailand. Subject for a separate post.

*However I spend most travel in Thailand away from touristy areas, whereas in Cambodia I stay and deal in touristy areas. So my comparison is Thais with little contact to foreigners to Khmer with much contact to foreigners.

Poverty
In Thailand I saw only adult individuals, often not sound of mind, living on the streets. But in Cambodia (and same in Brazil) entire families, mostly working for garbage recycling. I haven’t seen children scavenging through garbage in Thailand, but in Cambodia.

Public transport
Public transport and walking are my main modes to get around. Therefore, public transport is an important issue for me (but not at all for friends with mocy), and poor public transport in Chiang Mai and Phuket is the reason why I rarely visit these places in Thailand.

In Mar2020 I had the chance to ride the newly introduced bus service in Phnom Penh (1500 Riel per ride, air-conditioned buses, all fine). But due to Corona, the bus service was stopped and not resumed again (I suspect economic reasons, there were only few passengers every time I rode the bus). That means Phnom Penh is again without public transport.

Public transport by bus or van travel between provinces was just sufficient for my needs before the lockdown and curfew (Mar2021), but now (May2021) even after lockdown is lifted, there is not enough demand to get to previous density and travel is more expensive and cumbersome and inconvenient than before.

At least the train is running, at a very limited schedule (only Fri-Sat-Sun-Mon, only Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville).

Renting a room
I have spent all my time here in hotels based on the following calculation: I pay 300 USD/month on hotels. If I were renting a room, that would be 200 USD/month, but I would be away for 10 days and spend 100 USD on hotels for these 10 days, making 300 USD/month. But with a hotel I have full flexibility (I can go to Germany or Thailand any day without losing money because I signed a multiple-month contract) and don’t need to take care of laundry, electricity and water bills.

But out of curiosity I joined a friend in his quest to rent a room and can say that the offer is a bit below the standard I know from Bangkok.

The highlights of our quest for a room for him were the following. An apartment of about 50 square meter, spread over two floors. The bedroom on upper level had the ceiling so low that it touched my head:

And the place we went to next had a very high ceiling (and a kind of mezzanine elsewhere in the room to use part of that space):

These two, and some others we saw, were as if a children’s drawing had been scaled up and built!

Syringes in hotels
Three times I discovered used syringes in hotel rooms. Let’s say 3 rooms out of 15. Such thing never happened elsewhere. One case was just looking at the room, poor housekeeping! The other cases I stayed in the room. The first two cases I dismissed without much thought, but the third case it occurred to me that the syringe might be places to extort money from the guest.

However a friend who has been in Cambodia long time assured me that it wouldn’t work this way in Cambodia; if there is nothing found in my blood or pee, they can’t charge me.

Tourism
The longer I stay here, the more interesting places pop up (temples, mountains, rocks, waterfalls). I have entertainment for the rest of the year. The only problem is getting there with limited public transport and not speaking the language. Extrapolating, I could entertain myself with travel for two years. Not enough to settle permanently and learn the language.

Tuktuk and mocy
It seems every tuktuk or mocy driver in PNH thinks every foreigner is looking for a ride. Can’t walk 100 m without a honk from a passing or an offer from one standing or driving past.

Visa
Several foreigners who work here told me that business/work visa is much easier in Thailand.

And indeed in my case a business visa for Cambodia was quite easy to get (depends on embassy, some are strict) with the mere intention to look for business or investment in Cambodia; whereas for Thailand you would need a concrete job offer or investment. Now I have been here for over 6 months, no visa runs and no 90-day-reportings!

Summary
For me, many things I need are a bit more expensive than in Thailand, at the same time less tasty/convenient/comfortable. There is still a lot of development to be done until Cambodia can match up to Thailand, or even Vietnam or Myanmar when it comes to public transport. But 4 friends prefer Cambodia over Thailand for various reasons and moved here.

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