It will 'happen' and there will be many face-saving ceremonies, but it will never truly happen.

phuketrichard wrote:ASEAN will never happen.
Thailand's current military government does not want it to be put in force.

I know that there are so many obstacles toward ASEAN integration, however i just hope that it will happen in the end of 2015 as planned.

I think someone in the government first needs to work through the idea of private and public money, and pass it on, before the issue of whether ASEAN will work or not can even be discussed. The whole thing does remind me a bit of the feeling I got from when the EU idea was being implemented in the UK. Seemed like everything the population was hoping for was being thrown out by intricate discussion and a lot of opting out, whereas all the business promoting stuff was greedily sucked up. We even have our own human rights court in the UK now. The European one just wasn't good enough. ASEAN will be year upon year of publicly paid (maybe they will finally understand a governments true relationship with public funds) face saving discussions. I predict it may be implemented here after the next war. You decide which one.

In my opinion, the people living abroad consist of two types of people.

1st, travelers who have enough disposable income to move from their own country and live abroad outside the stresses of their more developed country, which although is possible to make more money in, is also generally a lot more stressful. These are the majority of people I've met in Cambodia.

2nd, people who want to make money by opening a business (large business) by bring expertise and large amounts of investment to the country which generally lacks it. Many of these are the ones you see in Range Rovers, LX570s and Merc S-classes.

If you ask the benefits of living in Cambodia specifically, most of them will say that they enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and the lack of Western stresses in life. While I know of course you can make more money abroad, I doubt that many Cambodians realize how much you have to know to get a decent job and how much of your life you have to spend working in the "West" to live a comfortable life. If they did, I'll bet that many would understand why some foreigners like to come over to Cambodia.

AE86 wrote:In my opinion, the people living abroad consist of two types of people.

1st, travelers who have enough disposable income to move from their own country and live abroad outside the stresses of their more developed country, which although is possible to make more money in, is also generally a lot more stressful. These are the majority of people I've met in Cambodia.

2nd, people who want to make money by opening a business (large business) by bring expertise and large amounts of investment to the country which generally lacks it. Many of these are the ones you see in Range Rovers, LX570s and Merc S-classes.

If you ask the benefits of living in Cambodia specifically, most of them will say that they enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and the lack of Western stresses in life. While I know of course you can make more money abroad, I doubt that many Cambodians realize how much you have to know to get a decent job and how much of your life you have to spend working in the "West" to live a comfortable life. If they did, I'll bet that many would understand why some foreigners like to come over to Cambodia.

I would like to add a third category. One that I fit into. People who want to start a new life in another country for one reason or another. For me it was about the weather, temperature to be precise and the ability to work in an interesting, and what I used to think, ethical profession. Things have changed a lot over the last 7 or so years. The profession is still there, but the way it does business has changed a lot. For me the dream was pretty much an instant nightmare, as i left it too late to teach in Cambodia. Sure I got work, certainly was not rich, couldn't even afford decent food or accommodation for the first time in my adult life. (whether down to my own inabilities or not, i can't say i have had the problem anywhere else apart from Vietnam on the accom front. I feel like I have been banging my head against a wall ever since. The one's that get on well here I consider very lucky indeed as there are not that many places outside of Asia that offer the heat and the jobs.

If you ask the benefits of living in Cambodia specifically, most of them will say that they enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and the lack of Western stresses in life. While I know of course you can make more money abroad, I doubt that many Cambodians realize how much you have to know to get a decent job and how much of your life you have to spend working in the "West" to live a comfortable life. If they did, I'll bet that many would understand why some foreigners like to come over to Cambodia.

Excellent appraisal. Unless your the sort who lives to work, and not the other way round, you may well find that you end up hating the western way of working your life away. I used to enjoy going to Spain as they had the siesta. Very similar to the Cambodian lunch time. People would finish work at around 12 and either go home to eat with the family or go to a restaurant and eat a menu del dia (menu of the day) which comprised of a starter, a main course and a desert. Normally accompanied by a large bottle of water and a bottle of house wine. After which they would retire home for a short nap (the siesta) till around 3.30 then back to the bank for around 4 till 8pm. Of course, with the modern economy in Spain (lol) the whole thing is disappearing fast. In England it is quite common to only have 1/2 an hour for lunch now. Just time to pop out and buy a frozen cheese and onion pasty for the microwave in the coffee room.

Another category, one I fit into.
4/ People who became bored and despondent in their country of birth and were (are) looking for something new.
After 47 years in Australia, I became bored. It may/probably will happen to me here in Cambodia also, but if it takes the same amount of time then I will be long dead and buried by then!

Downside to living abroad : you will miss your family and your friends. You will also miss Khmer food (the rice will not be the same), and you will miss all the things that you like about your country.
You just have to decide if it's worth it for you.
You will probably also wonder where all the public holidays have gone to. (Most countries are not so big on public holidays as Cambodia). You will have to work Khmer New Year.

Anchor Moy wrote:Downside to living abroad : you will miss your family and your friends. You will also miss Khmer food (the rice will not be the same), and you will miss all the things that you like about your country.
You just have to decide if it's worth it for you.
You will probably also wonder where all the public holidays have gone to. (Most countries are not so big on public holidays as Cambodia). You will have to work Khmer New Year.

Hehehe... I think so

I think AE86 summarized the scene pretty well. It's a nice change from some of our daily lives back in our home countries (though some expats do like to complain a lot). I think many people who end up living abroad (especially in places like Cambodia) are the type who have always had itchy feet. Meaning, people who like to travel, who enjoy freedom and a bit of adventure, who enjoy experiencing new things, who don't like being always in one place and so on. This is perhaps changing a bit now that Cambodia is a mainstream destination, but I think in a way many expats have that much in common.

There are literally tons of foreigners who don't like to travel and would never dream/want to live abroad, especially in Cambodia. Many Khmers find it mind-blowing that someone can travel alone/live in a foreign country alone... Many foreigners are the same way. You just don't meet those people because they're back there and don't bother travelling abroad much as they don't enjoy it. So in a way, foreigners might "seem" adventurous simply because those who travel are generally, one degree or another, a bit more open-minded/travel friendly. This is all somewhat relative though...

Samouth wrote:

Username Taken wrote:Sadly, you are missing the point.

Not every expat is from a developed western country. But!!! They have the necessary skills to do their job.

Do you have the skills to work in an ASEAN country?

I know that some Eastern Europe countries are not really rich. Moreover, i am not a typical Cambodian who always think that white people are rich.

Beside my TEFL degree, i have got a bachelor degree of Civil Engineering. I am going to use that skill to work in another ASEAN country, however i will not be able to make it soon, as i need to work in Cambodia first to gain some experiences.

I don't know you and hopefully you'll be able to accomplish your goal. However, you need to realize that with the opportunities that ASEAN represents, it will also come with some possible issues. You need to ask yourself if your degree in civil engineering will be worth much in the eyes of your future employers: ASEAN integration means you'll be competing with many candidates from countries with much better reputations in education.