why the english visit Cambodia

This is where our community discusses almost anything! While we're mainly a Cambodia expat discussion forum and talk about expat life here, we debate about almost everything. Even if you're a tourist passing through Southeast Asia and want to connect with expatriates living and working in Cambodia, this is the first section of our site that you should check out. Our members start their own discussions or post links to other blogs and/or news articles they find interesting and want to chat about. So join in the fun and start new topics, or feel free to comment on anything our community members have already started! We also have some Khmer members here as well, but English is the main language used on CEO. You're welcome to have a look around, and if you decide you want to participate, you can become a part our international expat community by signing up for a free account.
User avatar
Jamie_Lambo
The Cool Boxing Guy
Posts: 15039
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2015 10:34 am
Reputation: 3132
Location: ลพบุรี
Great Britain

Re: why the english visit Cambodia

Post by Jamie_Lambo »

Raybull wrote: Thu Jun 15, 2017 3:25 pm
Jamie_Lambo wrote: Thu Jun 15, 2017 5:44 am
Raybull wrote: Wed Jun 14, 2017 8:58 pm
Cruisemonkey wrote: Wed Jun 14, 2017 8:19 pm
Kuroneko wrote: Wed Jun 14, 2017 1:11 pm

Image

No shit! Raybull is on something...or he lives in a very expensive part of Asia... like Tokyo or Singapore.

I'm also from Victoria and I can tell you it's a bloody expensive place to live. Rents are high, you're taxed to death and you can't smoke anywhere (if you can afford to smoke).
I should have qualified that as middle class family lifestyle, say a family with a couple kids that buys a new car every five years, owns their own home and the kids get a good education. Obviously if you're a renter and smokes, booze and whores factor significantly into your budget then you're better off here.
are you sure?
mortgage
council tax
electric
gas
water
telecoms bills
insurance
tv license
road tax
car insuarnce
MOTs
national insurance
childrens nursery http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-26433991

only plus side of the UK is free public schools and healthcare
Sure you'll get nickled and dimed more out west, but the biggest costs are housing, food and entertainment, transport, and education. Mortgage rates, vehicles, and education costs are all much higher here.
what mortgage do you need in cambodia when you can buy a house for the price of a years mortgage in the west?
the only downside to living in Cambodia is the wages are a lot smaller, but if youre working for some international company on a decent wage, you can live far more comfortably here (or thailand)
:tophat: Mean Dtuk Mean Trei, Mean Loy Mean Srey
Punchy McShortstacks School of Hard Knocks :x
Raybull
Expatriate
Posts: 1199
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2015 11:54 am
Reputation: 12

Re: why the english visit Cambodia

Post by Raybull »

C'mon you don't seriously think you can buy a nice house in some PP borey comparable to one in some middle class suburb for about 15k$ do you? That's about the yearly cost for a 25y 300k mortgage @2%. You're looking at around ten times that, and your mortgage would be at 8-10% (if you could get one). Yearly cost of a 150k mortgage @ 9% would be nearly 15k$ also.
Sure like I said if you're here on an expat package, you're in a sweet spot, and you would not be considered middle class IMO.
BTW, your kids would be in nursery for four years max after a nicely paid mat mat leave; here if you put them in a decent school it'll average more per kid per year and it'll be for 12 or so years, on top of your early childhood costs.
User avatar
Jamie_Lambo
The Cool Boxing Guy
Posts: 15039
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2015 10:34 am
Reputation: 3132
Location: ลพบุรี
Great Britain

Re: why the english visit Cambodia

Post by Jamie_Lambo »

dunno its not my expertise tbh, i fall into the booze and hookers section lol
:tophat: Mean Dtuk Mean Trei, Mean Loy Mean Srey
Punchy McShortstacks School of Hard Knocks :x
Anchor Moy
Expatriate
Posts: 13458
Joined: Wed May 28, 2014 11:37 pm
Reputation: 3974
Tokelau

Re: why the english visit Cambodia

Post by Anchor Moy »

Forget Phnom Penh. You can buy a decent apartment in SHV for two people for $30K, or rent one for $250 a month. That's much cheaper than anywhere by the sea in UK, Europe or Australia. And they can only get cheaper, there's so many going up. So forget the mortgage, and there are no taxes to speak of compared to the west.
A motorbike is cheap to run. Sun and beach is free. It's dead cheap to go out in the evening - if you don't go to bars with east European pole dancers anyway. :wink:

Just don't have kids or health problems.
Raybull
Expatriate
Posts: 1199
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2015 11:54 am
Reputation: 12

Re: why the english visit Cambodia

Post by Raybull »

Yeah, I just find it funny some famillies out here living on 20Kish a year, renting a 2 bed khmer bungalow or apt. down some broken alley or dirt road for 300$/mth, driving their kid(s) to a cheap school in an old '98 CRV or even on a motorbike, claiming their life out here is so cheap compared to their 'middle class' life before, as if it's even comparable. I think a lot of us are guilty of lowering our standards in various ways while proclaiming things are cheap out here without acknowledging that we're comparing apples to oranges.
Raybull
Expatriate
Posts: 1199
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2015 11:54 am
Reputation: 12

Re: why the english visit Cambodi

Post by Raybull »

Anchor Moy wrote: Fri Jun 16, 2017 1:28 am Forget Phnom Penh. You can buy a decent apartment in SHV for two people for $30K, or rent one for $250 a month. That's much cheaper than anywhere by the sea in UK, Europe or Australia. And they can only get cheaper, there's so many going up. So forget the mortgage, and there are no taxes to speak of compared to the west.
A motorbike is cheap to run. Sun and beach is free. It's dead cheap to go out in the evening - if you don't go to bars with east European pole dancers anyway. :wink:

Just don't have kids or health problems.
Was discussing a typical middle class family situation with a couple kids, so kids and medical kind of factor in also, no? And what do you mean there's no taxes?? Everything is taxed here practically, you just don't see at the register usually. Property transfer tax, income, import and VAT taxes, especially on bikes and cars, road tax on cars, etc.?? Sure there's more tax evasion though, especially on capital gains taxes that are suppose to be declared as income. If these generals and the likes actually paid taxes on all the properties they're flipping, maybe the infrastructure would be on par with a third tier Chinese city, like even some basic sewers and a functioning water treatment plant to start off with would be nice!
Anchor Moy
Expatriate
Posts: 13458
Joined: Wed May 28, 2014 11:37 pm
Reputation: 3974
Tokelau

Re: why the english visit Cambodia

Post by Anchor Moy »

@ RB Yes, like Jamie, I'm not talking about middle class family living either. There are are always trade-offs, but it works for me.

Just saw this video from a Brit guy with his take on the cost of living here (well, Siem Reap):

LIVING IN CAMBODIA. THE COST OF LIVING, HOW MUCH MONEY DO I NEED EVERY MONTH TO SURVIVE?
User avatar
Jamie_Lambo
The Cool Boxing Guy
Posts: 15039
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2015 10:34 am
Reputation: 3132
Location: ลพบุรี
Great Britain

Re: why the english visit Cambodi

Post by Jamie_Lambo »

Raybull wrote: Fri Jun 16, 2017 1:37 am
Anchor Moy wrote: Fri Jun 16, 2017 1:28 am Forget Phnom Penh. You can buy a decent apartment in SHV for two people for $30K, or rent one for $250 a month. That's much cheaper than anywhere by the sea in UK, Europe or Australia. And they can only get cheaper, there's so many going up. So forget the mortgage, and there are no taxes to speak of compared to the west.
A motorbike is cheap to run. Sun and beach is free. It's dead cheap to go out in the evening - if you don't go to bars with east European pole dancers anyway. :wink:

Just don't have kids or health problems.
road tax on cars, etc.??
Road tax? 250,000r... $61, my car road tax here in England is £231....$294
:tophat: Mean Dtuk Mean Trei, Mean Loy Mean Srey
Punchy McShortstacks School of Hard Knocks :x
Raybull
Expatriate
Posts: 1199
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2015 11:54 am
Reputation: 12

Re: why the english visit Cambodi

Post by Raybull »

Jamie_Lambo wrote: Fri Jun 16, 2017 2:14 am
Raybull wrote: Fri Jun 16, 2017 1:37 am
Anchor Moy wrote: Fri Jun 16, 2017 1:28 am Forget Phnom Penh. You can buy a decent apartment in SHV for two people for $30K, or rent one for $250 a month. That's much cheaper than anywhere by the sea in UK, Europe or Australia. And they can only get cheaper, there's so many going up. So forget the mortgage, and there are no taxes to speak of compared to the west.
A motorbike is cheap to run. Sun and beach is free. It's dead cheap to go out in the evening - if you don't go to bars with east European pole dancers anyway. :wink:

Just don't have kids or health problems.
road tax on cars, etc.??
Road tax? 250,000r... $61, my car road tax here in England is £231....$294
And is there a road in England comparable to NR4? And if you bought that car brand new is there a 130% import tax?
Raybull
Expatriate
Posts: 1199
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2015 11:54 am
Reputation: 12

Re: why the english visit Cambodia

Post by Raybull »

Works for me too right now, but if I'm drinking 1$ beers i'm under no illusion they're comparable to what I would be drinking back home for 4$ :beer3: Personally, If I ever decide to have a family with a local girl, I'm pretty damn sure I would be heading back home when the kids hit school age. Might never happen, but atleast I've planned for it...in home country low taxed investments for living expenses, off shore tax free personal property and some other stuff, declare low income and claim all the child benefits and crap that comes with living off of a middle income in western country with free medical and schooling, only way I could ever recoup all the taxes I paid on home country sourced income in the last nearly fifteen years. Unless I win the lotto or any middle income family folk want to chime in, movin' on!
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Amazon [Bot], Bing [Bot], Bobby66, Khmu Nation, Moe and 1223 guests