Hey guys! My wife and I will be moving to Cambodia with our newborn in October, we have traveled there on and off for 13 years and have lived in Asia and central America during that time, would like know your thoughts about difference in quality of life, cost of living, and having a really good hospital as we will have a baby. Also anything else you can think of! We work online so either place is ok as far as location. Our budget is around 3000 usd a month. We were there only a few months ago but visiting is not the same as living as you guys know!

Sorry I kept hitting send it posted twice

Siem Reap:
- Clean town
- Small town feeling, maybe too much?
- Proximity to Thailand

Phnom Penh
- Large 'metropolis'
- Traffic is a mess
- When it comes to facilities there's no other place in Cambodia coming even close
- The opposite of clean
- Thailand is hours, or a flight, away

If I would want the simple family life and I had to choose between these two I'd choose Siem Reap, no doubt.

I’m very excited about moving to SR.

I have lived in Siem Reap for 7 years. I agree with all Kammekor has said with also:
- lots of different restaurants - French, Khmer, Italian, Indian, Pizza, etc
- big range of hotels from 5 star to 1 star. All very cheap in off season.
- good choice of accommodation from houses to apartments, anything from $300 to $1000 per month.
- direct air services to Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, China, Philippines, Laos, and Vietnam.
- International school available or local private schools

Downside is limited medical services (although has improved from a few years ago). For any specialisations you need to go to Phnom Penh or Thailand (but preferably Singapore for quality). Medical services for tropical medicine however are very good. Plenty of dentists and cheap.

Since you work online, internet service is good in Siem Reap and less power cuts than Phnom Penh I believe. I have seldom been to Phnom Penh but my impression has been: dirty, crowded, poor transport, so-so hotels, scary to drive, people less friendly. Others who live there may have more positive things to say.

We live in Phnom Penh. All the above is true (dirty, crowded etc) and we would rather be in SR. Unless you don't need to work in PP like us, we wound consider Siem-Reap as a better choice. One thing to consider: the primary school options for your child in SR are quite limited (depending on which curriculum you want) and when your kid will reach grade 6 you will probably need to move to PP.

How often are the power outages and for how long on average?

Joshcanggu wrote: ↑Sat Aug 10, 2019 7:01 pm How often are the power outages and for how long on average?

Power outages are seasonal and fluctuating. I don't think that anyone can predict what the situation will be when you will arrive in October. It could be better than now or could be worse. Some areas in the same city have more problems than others. The authorities are vaguely promising a better power supply for 2020, but I am skeptic. IMO the demand is growing faster than the supply.

I'd ask what are the other choices? And I'm serious when I say that. You need to clearly thing about the added risk your exposing your child to.

We have had two children born in Cambodia. I would clearly state that if my wife weren't Khmer there is no way I would choose to raise children here as a "choice". As it is we agreed that we'd raise them here for a few years and move to the US prior to beginning school.

When things are good then its fine being here. When your son/daughter gets sick it will be a different story. We use Bangkok hospital in Siem Reap for our vaccinations and I'd agree with the statement that they can handle tropical disease/general infection type of things ok. Anything else forget it (they do have a female OBGYN that is pretty good). Our pediatrician is a joke.

Daily, there are neighbors burning their trash. Every single day. Any type of waste - plastic, containers, everything - toxic or not they haven't a clue. Try to go for a walk - expect that 75% of the time you'll get the smell of smoke somewhere along the way. And the smell of open sewage is a normal everyday thing as I drive to the gym or into town. Driving is treacherous and accidents occur often.

There are a lot of restaurants in town. There is now a large "western" style supermarket on national route 6. Generally it is safe, but there is a certain amount of low-level crime present. They have developed a park like area in town that appears nice when I go by - aside from that not a lot of safe areas to spend time outside (and when I say safe I'm referencing the traffic and small children). This is a tourist town. People come and go.

Near us is a place where several teachers from one of the supposedly better international schools have stayed (we are friends with the owner). They come and go. None have last more than a year. A few have packed up in the middle of the night (without paying the remainder of their bills I might add). None have really impressed me as being "sharp". Mostly either very young or near retirement.

Why accept the pollution, the poor health care, traffic danger, tropical diseases, and substandard education for your child? If you move here I hope it all works out well, but just be aware that sometimes when you play with fire you get burned. And should it be your child you'll never forgive yourself.

Joshcanggu wrote: ↑Sat Aug 10, 2019 7:01 pm How often are the power outages and for how long on average?

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Here is Siem Reap its been a bit better this past year. The outages come and go - most last a few hours. We do kind of regularly get the 45 minute outage but I don't really count those.

There are a good number of places for rent that have backup generators. You'll pay a bit more but sweat a bit less.