Best city in Cambodia to live in coming from the USA

Phnom pehn..

For the most part, living quarters are inexpensive and numerous. Depends on where you want to live. Phnom Penh is a big, busy city with well over 1 million population. It also has many of the things you will find in big cities. Many nice stores, good restaurants, easy transportation by tuk-tuk, moto and auto. There is no mass transit.
Siem Reap is about 5 hours north by road, has some nice stores, many nice restaurants, and far fewer residents, but more tourists.
I live in sihanoukville, on the coast, about 4 hours south-west of Phnom Penh. Not many nice stores, a few decent super markets, some good restaurants. Rents are lower here than eithe PP or Siem reap. I don't need to work, because I am retired.
If you are looking for work, or a place to open a business, PP maybe your best bet.
Take some time to look around before making a big decision like this. This is a 3rd world country,with many negatives. Petty crime is frequent, corruption among officials is normal - they all expect "commission" for many things. Police will stop you for imaginary things, looking for $1 or $2 to "take care of it".

Thanks for the response madmax888. I tried to respond but not sure if my response went through? We appreciate any and all info we recieve. We are also going to reire somewhere in ASIA. I think we have it boiled down to Viet Nam or Cambodia. Both have warm climates and low cost of living. We have lots of questions, for example. Do we move everything we have over there or do we pack a suitcase and hop on a plane? How does a person acess funds from U.S. ? Do we leave accounts open in the U.S. and use ATM's (do they have ATM's ?) How difficult is it to obtain housing. Do you just walk up to a landlord, hand them some cash and move in ? What documents are required to enter and STAY in the country ? Are purchases paid for in U.S. funds ? Are there lots of other expats living there ? Any info on day to day living there in Cambodia will be appreciated.Thanks John and Lyndy

Hi John and Lyndy and welcome to Expat.com!

I advise you to browse through the forum, it could shed a light on some of your queries!

Good luck

Francesca

Its so easy to live here, accommadation easy as, plenty of work/business prospects....I live in Kep, best place on Earth but I'm biased...very happy here atm....But I do head out for a few months sailing around this planet

Thanks for the info Karmaboy. I havent heard anything bad about Cambodia yet, that would make us think twice about moving there. We are not real fussy when it comes to living quarters, so as long as is safe, warm temps, and cheap, looks like we'll be joining all of you expats there. Now the only choice we have left to make is, which city in Cambodia.

City choice is easy because there are not many.Kampot is a very relaxed place,PP is hot and busy,Sien Reap is full of tourista and pretty full on,I hate the place personally,Sihoukville is rather appealling.Travel around first, live in all cities,towns and different weather conditions, remember its a monsoon country so it rains here for a while.Check out flooding conditions too, if planning to build.Property have different laws and conditions depending where it is,Ground floor is harder to own,property close to the beach is harder to buy.But money solves everything Loads od ATM's everywhere.Keep an account open at home for ATM access. Dont bring anything over except personal stuff, buy it all here.Living and rental conditions are the same as elsewhere,very easy to find , in every price range, many are furnished, paperwork can be exchanged or not. The locals are very honest, well most of them.Kymer/Chinese are good to do business with.The cops are cool but it helps to know a few. For $50 a month you get total protection, if needed.One phone call and everything dissolves away . Get a 1 year business visa on arrival cost I think is $250...easily extendable. Citizenship will cost you 25 grand......and two finger prints....ha  ha.Its a commission society so you must expect that in deals etc.That's how many earn a living.Just be one step ahead and always ask before you begin the deal, no matter be it with A tuk Tuk driver or a written contract.Dont be stingy with your cash, they need to make a living too so be generous and understanding.You must aim for a win win deal,where everyone is happy.If you are naive and stupid, expect to get rumbled.Talk to as many locals as possible,many just love and sit down and chat.Evertime I return to a place the locals remember me and when they relise you are here to stay , they put an effort into a more friendly relationship.They get tired of promises from travellers who promise the world and then leave...You gain huge respect in being honesty and real.I buy the kids food,give the handicapped some money and Improve my Karma,WELL I HOPE SO ANYWAY...medicines are cheap and readlly avaliable,doctors are cheap, but most info is on the net, so find out what is wrong and the drugs/ help you need and go out and get it. some better qualities of drugs cost more. You can live on $1000 a month very easily.Being a single man it sometimes costs me more but hey you can't take it with you...OK I hope I have answered some questions, this blog site is not the best in getting answers...message me if you want to know more
.I have many connections in immigration and the police etc.

Hi Karmaboy
Just read you blog reply of 14 April 2012. Wonder if much has changed in 2 years that would be significant to mention.I am planning a trip in May of 2015 and would like to have a good look at Sihoukville, Kep and other smaller towns that offer good amenities. Would like to do some playing in clubs (jazz) if possible. First trip would be to scope things out with possible thoughts to a good retirement haven. I like warm weather but not a lot of humidity - guess that may not be possible there - but could learn to live with it, but I understand from your review that it varies.

Pretty adaptable as to living conditions, having lived overseas in Afghanistan, Colombia, Holland and now Argentina where I own a small vineyard.
Just getting into this so my feet aren't even wet - so feel free to provide any helpful info
thanks
Arnie
[email protected]

Count another vote for Phnom Penh, until you retire. Then Sihanoukville

To the OP, I would recommend coming and spending a few months looking around before making a huge decision about packing up your life and moving to Cambodia...you will either love it or hate it, and it will also give you a chance to check out the different cities/towns, etc.

Hi Arnie/trumpet guy ....

I started out with a 3 month stint in Cambodia in 2012 and than put in 8 months last year. I think I'l stay 3-4 months a year here in the states and 8-9 months in Cambodia.
I traveled the country pretty extensively the last two years spending time in even the little visited provinces like Rataniikiri     and mondalkiri. Phnom Penh has a lot to offer both culturally and in entertainment. You can find pretty much everything that you  find in any major western city in PP albeit some of our staples here in the USA are quite expensive in Cambodia but I learned to either go without or cut back in those types of things. I rented  a nice modern furnished 2 bedroom apt and paid around $350 total including my water electricity garbage and cable. I've visited friends who stayed in $40 a month rooms to $1400 per month luxury condos so rents even for homes are relatively cheap compared to the San Francisco Bay Area where I rent my 3 bedroom townhouse out for $2800 per month.
For me the traffic, constant noise pollution and air quality in PP make it hard to recommend as a permanent place to resettle. I've travelled my side of the globe Canada to Argentina and everywhere in between as I was married in Brasil and most of SE Asia and I've found  PP has some of the worst air quality I've experienced anywhere. Since you're  in Argentina maybe you've visited São Paulo Brasil? Well, PP's air quality is similar to São Paulo or Mexico City on a hot day.... probably equal to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day.
Siem Reap has everything that PP has to offer except the air quality is much better. It is true that 2 million tourist visit SR each year but if you stay away from pub street and the temple complex you'll find that the tourist don't venture out of those areas much. I stayed at a guesthouse brand new beautiful rooms, aircon, shower tub, flat screen tv and breakfast included for $280 per month. My last month there I stayed with a friend who had a home close to pub st with a business downstairs living quarters upstairs on the next two levels her rent was $250 per month. She also built a small home 10 minutes outside of town with I bath 1 bedroom a kitchen and a living room. Cost of construction including a sump and a well was $6,000 and she paid $3,800 for the plot of land.
For me the best place I visited with the best quality of life, fresh air, location and climate was Kampot.
Kampot is a place you can raise a family and from what old timers tell me it is like SR and PP were like 15 years ago. There isn't much nightlife but they don't allow any establishments with bar girls or taxi girls either. There is a tight iknit group of bar owners that work together to keep things running smooth and rotating the live music venues to keep things fresh probably a good spot for you to exercise your need to play jazz. The good thing about Kampot is it's only 30 minutes to kep 90 minutes to Sihanoukville and a couple hours to PP. Hell I even rode my Moto over the Cardamom mountains to  koh kong crossed over the bridge to Thailand for a visa run it sure beats the poipet crossing hands down.
I've been to kep 6-7 times and kep is beautiful but it is just way to small and quite for me with everything shutting down with the sunset except one small French pizzeria.
Sihanoukville, I just don't get the whole wanting to live there? There really isn't that much to do unless you are into getting drunk every night and hanging out with a 18 year old bar girl. The beaches are not anything special somewhat dirty in fact although the islands are nice. But honestly much of the expats I've met there lives revolve around binge drinking,whore mongering between the square victory hill and the beach. Also, it's the place I've seen the most criminal activity purse and phone snatching drunken assaults and ice smoking zombies.
So all in all I'd say if you can take the time to travel to all of these provinces and stay for at least a couple of weeks rent or buy a Moto really check them out before you actually move.
Also if anyone can explain to me what the draw to living in Sihanoukville is I'd really like to know because I must be missing something.

I think the question for you, John & Lyndy is, how you envision your life in Cambodia and if your finances dictate the location. Will you need jobs or not? Is a smaller town good enough? There is a lot more to do in Phnom Penh but the traffic is getting worse every year (plus the air pollution). Allow me to get slightly OT here: In addition, the traffic has nowhere to go. Most streets cannot be widened and there won't be a skytrain or a subway anytime soon.

How many times have you been to Cambodia? What do you like about it?

Finding living quarters is, as always, a matter of $$ - it's been a renter's market in Phnom Penh, lately, I've heard and construction of new buildings can still be seen all around.

One more vote for Kampot here, also. It is close enough to all the beautiful spots on the coast. You can get most things in Kampot, yet it's still a very laid back smaller town with a beautiful setting (I guess not much longer if we keep praising it like this!).

In Siem Reap and Battambang and close to the Tonle Sap, flooding is a big issue in the fall/rainy season. In some areas down the Mekong to the East of PP, Arsenic in the groundwater is an issue, something to consider as that will never leave your body once ingested.

hello jhon n lyndy,
cambodia is good for the business propose because the government of cambodia is very flexible for the forgein investment.. if you need any banglows for rent u will get easly and the price will be very cheap ... 250 $ u will get house with swimming pool in the good location.. first make sure what u want to do here business,work or just for holiday .. I would like to suggest you to write more about your propose before come here in your next post that i could help u with lot more information..
Regards,
Subodh

just move here and see for your selfThat is what I did and come to find out most of the blogs are a good percent BS

Love Cambodia, & thought Sianakville looked nice on the surface but scratch back a layer and it's a shit hole why would anyone want to live there?

What is a shit hole to some is paradise to others maybe you should go back where you came from. Everyplace has its shit-hole area. Its all what you want to achieve. I lived for a while on the mekong river in one of those river houses. It may be a shit-hole to some not me I enjoyed being hidden and no one knew where I was eating like Cambodians and river life. But having been to more than 25 countries and worked in more than 10 shit-holes as you call them are everywhere. I am sure I can find a shit-hole in your country as well. Its a simple solution for everyone here on this forum "don't like Cambodia LEAVE". If your one of those spoiled westerners who has to have all the luxury like home this is not the place to be, go back get your Gucci shit, and spoiled lifestyle and stay there.

I refer to it as a shit hole from my own experience and interpretation.
Like yourself I too am well travelled & have spent the last 4 years in Cambodia & absolutely love the country and respect the people.
So much judgement when you know nothing about me.
I have volunteered for 15 years as well as work very hard to be able to afford to come to Cambodia.
I fundraise at home so we can help those in need and as much as I love the rest of Cambodia, I stand by my comment.
Our stay there included a sewage pipe leaking in our hotel room with a Barang manager who could not give a shit. My partner was attacked by lady boy & I had bag stolen. Victory hill was so seedy and I felt for the girls that worked there.
Take a chill pill dude and don't be so angry in your responses, the idea is people talking about & sharing their experience.
P's I have never owned a designer label anything!!!!

Don't be so fast to insult and jump on them ,just don't refer to it as a shit hole come up with a more professional name, not all establishments are like you say the best thing I have found is the power of you-tube make a video spread the word so others can avoid this place. If they care which they don't and want money tourists will avoid the place. I found that most guest houses owned by the local are not the best. Get one owned by an expat do some videos on the place spread the word so others can benefit. Just saying not trying to start a war here. Work together ..

Johnlyndy,
  You pose many great questions. Questions many before you have had including me. And many questions you don't know yet to ask. I should not even chime in as I don't live in Cambodia, but VN.
I will sY this and I'm sure many wi support me. It is very difficult to give accurate information unless we know more about you. For example the answer would be different for someone wanting to work verses someone who is retired. Age is an important factor for many reasons.
Since you mentioned your considering VN I wi tell you some of the reasons I settled here instead of Thailand my original destination. One, the VN currency is pegged to the greenback. Do you never lies purchasing power. I'm not sure of Cambodia's position. At the time I was thinking of going to Thailand I would have lost 30% of my income to devaluation.
I could ramble on forever, but it would help I'm sure to know more.

Too true!..... Victory Hill? Why would anyone go there unless to watch the beautiful sunset from the Mealy Chenda? The girls do what they need to do......hardly renowned for top class restaurants... is it?
I don't suppose that happens anywhere else.... does it?
Answer is simple.... you had a bad time for a 'seasoned' traveller. Sorry about that..... true to say that much worse happens here. Also sorry you stayed in bad accomodation.... your choice.
Good and bad everywhere... as you know! Best Wishes. C.P.

We have been so fortunate to travel to Cambodia as it has been a life changing experience.
I have totally fallen in love with its way of life and people.
Amazing place

Vagabondone wrote:

Johnlyndy,
  One, the VN currency is pegged to the greenback. Do you never lies purchasing power. I'm not sure of Cambodia's position.

Great research you did there... Yes, I'm being sarcastic, as in Cambodia the $US is basically the official currency for all transactions that go above a few $.

You are dreaming if you think you can get a bungalow with pool for $250 per month
Triple that and you are close in Siem Reap

Michael Kean
Solina Realty

Good blog man
Advising some ex pays who don't listen is difficult
Keep up your strong advices
Michael
Siem Reap

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mjck945 wrote:

You are dreaming if you think you can get a bungalow with pool for $250 per month
Triple that and you are close in Siem Reap

Michael Kean
Solina Realty

In Kampot $250 / m. (and less) is definitely possible. No pool though.

Have a look on Khmer24.com Tani...... fully refurbished 4 bedroom. Lots of land; fruit trees. Walled... very nice. $200 p.month rent. All utilities. For sale at $22k. Admittedly no pool and 30 mins from S.Reap.
Just a thought.... places in town with pools are more expensive.... nothing wrong with shopping around.

30 mins from Siem Reap
Not a pleasant thought unless you are going into a monastery
The drive would be hell

Mjck1945

(Moderated: off topic)