Freightdog wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 1:16 pm Ok.
Back to one of Khmer (but maybe just local) logic.

Cash is everything here. You can’t hail a tuk-tuk and pay with plastic.
At open of business, small shops, tuk-tuks, coffee shops. No one is able to give change on even a 10000r note. No have…

In my stash of filthy luoy, I would normally have 10000 or 20000r in small notes- 500, 1000, 5000. Enough to get a tuk-tuk or be able to rustle up enough for a coffee. But SWMBO will use all the small change early, and then we’re left trying to find small money to pay for a tuk-tuk.

These small things sometimes feel like the old conundrum- immovable object and irresistible force.

True that no one is able to give change for 10000r notes but cash being king is not really true anymore (in cities that is). Already for few years you have been able to pay pretty much every where with mobile here. At your next door mom'n'pops store and even many of the tuktuks and of course if you take count all the hailing apps, then almost 100% of tukstuks are cashless. Developing countries like Cambodia jumped over the "plastic era" totally and already ahead of the western world with mobile payments.

rogerrabbit wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 1:27 pm

Freightdog wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 1:16 pm Ok.
Back to one of Khmer (but maybe just local) logic.

Cash is everything here. You can’t hail a tuk-tuk and pay with plastic.
At open of business, small shops, tuk-tuks, coffee shops. No one is able to give change on even a 10000r note. No have…

In my stash of filthy luoy, I would normally have 10000 or 20000r in small notes- 500, 1000, 5000. Enough to get a tuk-tuk or be able to rustle up enough for a coffee. But SWMBO will use all the small change early, and then we’re left trying to find small money to pay for a tuk-tuk.

These small things sometimes feel like the old conundrum- immovable object and irresistible force.

True that no one is able to give change for 10000r notes but cash being king is not really true anymore (in cities that is). Already for few years you have been able to pay pretty much every where with mobile here. At your next door mom'n'pops store and even many of the tuktuks and of course if you take count all the hailing apps, then almost 100% of tukstuks are cashless. Developing countries like Cambodia jumped over the "plastic era" totally and already ahead of the western world with mobile payments.

True. My ABA debit card inexplicitly stopped working some weeks ago. Not sure what's wrong with it. ATM's just spit it back out at me, shops can't get it to work in their machines and it even started getting rejected as payment on Grab. It's not expired. It seems to have been cancelled by someone for some reason but I don't really see the point in going to get a new one when almost everyone has those QR codes and on the odd times I need physical cash, I can just use the E-Cash service. Being cardless for several weeks now hasn't really caused me any bother so far.

clutchcargo wrote:
Next we'll be putting down khmers for their driving techniques...wait, that's been done already.

It's all been done already. Henceforth, we'd
better only ever start discussions about topics that have never made the forum before. Or else we keep shrugging and mumbling tired cliché like, 'kingdom or wonder' and 'if you don't like it, leave'.

Edited as I forgot to quote the clutch man. See below.

clutchcargo wrote:

FrankReynolds wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 4:03 pm

clutchcargo wrote:
Next we'll be putting down khmers for their driving techniques...wait, that's been done already.

It's all been done already. Henceforth, we'd
better only ever start discussions about topics that have never made the forum before. Or else we keep shrugging and mumbling tired cliché like, 'kingdom or wonder' and 'if you don't like it, leave'.

No disparaging tone in your post here at all:

The lack of awareness while driving is noticeable. Whether it be a car overtaking into oncoming motos and forcing them into potholes and rough ground off the edge of a highway while doing 80+km/hr, or the "I'm gonna u turn wherever the f*ck I like" attitude, I wonder if khmers live very much in the here and now. In the exact moment. This is not to say they are spiritually aware like at some silent Buddhist retreat teaching hipsters how to meditate and be in the present, but in a way that shows they lack any kind of foresight or ability to pretict various possible outcomes from an action.
And I don't think it's done out of malice. I've been in taxis with really pleasant drivers that still behave like maniacs on the road without even knowing it.

An expat friend and I regularly make a noise/grunting sound that signifies khmer stupidity at its finest, and is most aptly applied when we either witness something utterly brainless, or when we are guilty of doing something particularly foolish.
This noise cannot be conveyed in any written language, but I guarantee any long term expats will know exactly how it sounds.

I thought it to be a very accurate representation of the truth. Nothing at all related to the tongue in cheek request by the OP. Nope.

If we are going to discuss the driving in Cambodia, I'd like to point out that not so long ago (like in my living memory), the main means of transport was motorbike, there were few cars, and much fewer trucks. A lot of roads were unpaved and full of potholes (admittedly, that hasn't changed much), so driving all over the road to avoid obstacles made a lot of sense. Anyone who has been to countries with shit roads, like Kenya (for example) will have seen this driving style.
Together with the shitty roads in Cambodia, there is also a lot more traffic, and a lot more cars that can drive faster than road conditions allow.

I'm not saying that Cambodian drivers are not dangerous, and even positively reckless. But there are some logical reasons for this - like lack of instruction for drivers, the very sharp increase in the amount of traffic on the roads, the state of the roads, and also the dangerous condition of many vehicles on the road, as well as overloading (esp trucks.)

Ok, that wasn't very light-hearted.

lagrange wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 8:17 am

ItWasntMe wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 6:53 am

SternAAlbifrons wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 12:37 am God - what a stupid idea. At least Buddhist Khmers are not burdened by that dead weight.
But apparently it is the guiding light for some nations and their leaders.

I know - you couldn't make this up. Nuts hey?

Next up in the hexagon we have mass psychosis vs fuzzy logics, place your bets now it's going to get messy

You can argue all the cultural differences you like, but when you are living with and dealing with poorly educated, low IQ peasant classes all these behaviours are to be expected. Lack of planning, inability for self-reflection, no foresight, no ability to learn from mistakes, no consideration for others. We deal with a bottom -of -the -barrel gene pool that was all that the KR left behind. But like with the Social Media (and like this comment), life is easier if you just learn to shake your head and move on.

Pretty Shit post mate.. Don't know how the mods have let you get away with this Garbage? You got friends in high places on here?
members been banned for less.. ffs. even equating peasant class to a low IQ?