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The following is from a Stickman email. I think the potential of becoming a fifty cent drunk all the rest of your days is easier than some might want to admit. I guess there are also those who never had a natural predisposition for the drink but found themselves there anyway.

Wifey and I were chatting with an American whilst having breakfast at an establishment on Victory Hill, Sihanoukville, a couple of weeks ago. He was retired and moved to Cambodia after being cleaned out financially by his Thai wife. There are so many of those lost souls around. Anyway, I asked him what he did all day and he replied, "I sit here and watch the bars change owners every three months."

Victory Hill is suffering. A whole street of bars offering the same services and with the same atmosphere, all right next door to one another. Someone opens a hostess bar up there with a little style and they'd likely dominate the market of the 5-10 customers that go up there on a given night.

No OD. The people that realise that we are in a transition period and realise that is going to take a couple of years, are the ones that will make a killing. The people that think S/ville is going to continue to support sex,drugs and cheap beer, are destined for the scrap heap in the not to distant future.

I do not see how the place could develop without a simple way to go there first.
The tourist (the kind who like to go to bar and such ) are usually looking for simple to go destination and you cannot expect infrastructure to develop ( such basic thing as school, hospital, and such) without a good transport system.

You aren't seeing it for what it is right now and where it is heading soon. Neither was I until very recently. Lets put it this way - there are a LOT more families and high class expats in town then what us westerners realise and that is the fact NOW, TODAY. Target it and you have a chance. I personally think its going to take another couple of years, but establish yourself and get a reputation now and things are going to explode soon. You will notice I said EXPATS. They live here now and don't give a shit about road conditions between here and anywhere else. If they need to go elsewhere, they park their Hummers up and fly.

Hotdigr, are you saying that the business future of SHV lies with the wealthier expats?
I don't know SHV at all from a business point of view but as Cambodia's premier beach destination I would have thought that tourists would have to be a prime target market?

Hotdigr wrote: The people that think S/ville is going to continue to support sex,drugs and cheap beer, are destined for the scrap heap in the not to distant future.

I'm one of the people that think it will continue to stay as you describe it for a long time to come.

That's just the way it is.

Hell, Otres just got a paved road VERY recently.

I don't care what plans you've heard of people having, they start these plans and then realize Sinville isn't the right place.

Yes, there is definitely a movement (like there is almost everywhere on the planet) to make the area more upscale, etc, but will it actually happen this time? No way! !

Sinville will continue to be the backpacker haven you admit it is with a few rich people running around, and that just won't change soon, ASEAN or not, LoL.

It sort of blew me away starting to work with the Russian community. At least down here, they outnumber us westerners 2 to 1. We have a perception of them all being a bunch of cheap charlie drunks, when in fact that perception couldnt be further from the truth. The VAST majority of them are well heeled, polite, have families and just don't want to hang around with what their perception of us is ( ie drunken, drug fuked cheap charlies) and to be honest, I don''t hang around with that percentile either. What we don't see is that their are a lot of Russian families in town a nd they want a decent place to spend their money. Cater to it and you will do well, fail to even recognise the biggest market in town and.... well its just good business sense really isn't it?

I think SHV will continue to develop as a much more Chinese-dominated tourist holiday resort town over time, and as such will be gradually less attractive to Europeans/Americans/Aussies, et al.

Nothing to do with plans GM, the simple fact is these people live here NOW and want decent venues to go to. Yes, they prefer to hang out with thier own compatriots ( don't we all?) but that won't stop them going somewhere that caters to their wants. I want to stress that THEY ARE HERE AND SPENDING MONEY NOW ,just not with you. As are the Koreans in particular and Chinese and the Thai's. Learn how to attract that market and the town is yours.