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I am a little concerned about how safe Cambodia is when I hear all these barangs dying from heart attacks in their hotel rooms when they are in their 40s and 50s. Is this something that I should be concerned with? I am a 42-year-old male, who drinks one bottle of Tsingtao beer a week and perhaps a glass or two of vodka. I do not have any medical condition that I know of and I do not hire hookers, use drugs, or gamble on a regular basis. The most unhealthy thing i do is eat Ice cream every two days and stay up all night playing league of legends or Minecraft. If i am at my apartment i usually prepare all my own meals as it is hard to find decent tacos, empanadas, ceviche, lasagna, meatloaf, Coxinha, or tres de Leche cake in Phnom Penh. Imagine going to an Italian restaurant and no one there knows what a Ragu or a bechamel is or going to a Mexican restaurant and there is no salse for my nachos. Only spaghetti sauce. God forbid you go to a Brazilian restaurant and there is not one dish there that is actually Brazilian. No one speaks Spanish or Portuguese in these places. I went to the Mexican restaurant on the riverside and tried ordering my meal in Spanish to the waiter who was wearing a sombrero and he could not understand me.

Assuming you are going off what you read in the news. Heart attack here means that the heart stopped - something you find in all cases of death, autopsy's here are rudimentary at best so unless there is an obvious cause then heart attack is recorded

I wrote a guide here post372266.html?hilit=heart%20attack#p372266

Because such things do not exist here. CSI Cambodia follow a rigorous flow chart if it isn't immediately obvious e.g. killed in a vehicle accident, gun shot wounds, stabbing etc :

1) are there drugs nearby?
- yes = died of overdose from drugs
No - go to point 2

2) are they western and in a hotel room or at home or in a massage palour with no drugs nearby?
- yes = died of heart attack*
No - go to point 3

3) are they dead in nature?
- yes = died of fainting due to the trees/lack of oxygen

If no go to point 4

4) are they found hanging?
- yes = suicide**

If no go to.point 5

5) are they found dead with signs they were ill e.g. some aspirin or cold medicine on the table?
Yes - died after a long illness

*also applies if no other reason can be deduced from the scene and only applies to foreigners

**also applies if hanging with hands tied behind back, fallen off a building or been decapitated then put their head in the trunk and drove into a lake (without their head physically attached)



Hope that helps - in answer to your question, are you at risk? I guess sat alone worrying your mind over such trivialities may well lead to a heart attack.

Healthy eating is one thing (not sure if a glass of a vodka fits here). Exercising is also important to prevent premature heart malfunction.

hunter8 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 12:59 pm Healthy eating is one thing (not sure if a glass of a vodka fits here). Exercising is also important to prevent premature heart malfunction.

i walk everywhere I go. i live close to the Orussey market and every two days i walk to sorya mall. every so often will walk to Aeon Mall and once is a while will walk to the riverside. Not so much now as I know my ex likes to go there. i hate being stuck in a car or tuk-tuk. Unless I am meeting someone or I am carrying something expensive or heavy I will walk to where I want to go. Normally i will shop at Central Market instead of Orussey because it is further away. I usually walk in the evening so I do not get sunburns.

angkorjohn2 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 12:57 pm Assuming you are going off what you read in the news. Heart attack here means that the heart stopped - something you find in all cases of death, autopsy's here are rudimentary at best so unless there is an obvious cause then heart attack is recorded

I wrote a guide here post372266.html?hilit=heart%20attack#p372266

Because such things do not exist here. CSI Cambodia follow a rigorous flow chart if it isn't immediately obvious e.g. killed in a vehicle accident, gun shot wounds, stabbing etc :

1) are there drugs nearby?
- yes = died of overdose from drugs
No - go to point 2

2) are they western and in a hotel room or at home or in a massage palour with no drugs nearby?
- yes = died of heart attack*
No - go to point 3

3) are they dead in nature?
- yes = died of fainting due to the trees/lack of oxygen

If no go to point 4

4) are they found hanging?
- yes = suicide**

If no go to.point 5

5) are they found dead with signs they were ill e.g. some aspirin or cold medicine on the table?
Yes - died after a long illness

*also applies if no other reason can be deduced from the scene and only applies to foreigners

**also applies if hanging with hands tied behind back, fallen off a building or been decapitated then put their head in the trunk and drove into a lake (without their head physically attached)



Hope that helps - in answer to your question, are you at risk? I guess sat alone worrying your mind over such trivialities may well lead to a heart attack.

As a clarification to section 4 - Suicides - this can also include multiple self-inflicted stab wounds up to and including 3 wounds.
post412523.html?hilit=suicide%20stabbed ... es#p412523

michael.stewart1 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 12:47 pmRe: What is with all the 40 year old Barangs dying from heart attacks?

I shouldn’t worry too much, what with your fairly active lifestyle, and penchant for reviving things otherwise dead for 2-3 years. Was it a slow news day? It’s rare to see so many dormant threads with their ashes poked.

Cambodia survival playbook:

1. Don't take hard drugs
2. Don't self medicate
3. Don't ride a motorbike
4. Don't come here if you are suicidal, insane or both
5. Don't come here if you have a dodgy ticker

Unfortunately Cambodia seems to attract of a lot of people who tick all five boxes.

In the main, Cambodia does attract fairly level headed, responsible foreigners who come here with a mindset to just get on, but it's fair to say that Cambodia also attracts more than it's fair share of drug addicts, alcoholics, manic depressives and combinations of the three.

As another poster pointed out, autopsy's are pretty much non-existent here, so nobody can definitively prove anything either way, but I think most people would conclude that the disproportionate number of deaths of fairly young men (too young to die of natural causes I mean) - (and it is largely men, which should also tell you something) is mostly down to the disproportionate number of young men in Cambodia leading the types of lifestyles which would attract early deaths in any country.

The causes of death are no different here to anywhere else. It's just the numbers of foreigners who live lifestyle which attract those causes of death are much bigger here.

*EDIT* It's also worth mentioning that many people are here without any health insurance. So where someone might be suffering chest pains (for example) in their their home country, they would probably call for an ambulance. Whereas the lack of health insurance and lack of faith in the health service here, might prevent someone from calling for an ambulance here quite as easily as they might back home.

starkmonster wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 1:59 pm Cambodia survival playbook:

1. Don't take hard drugs
2. Don't self medicate
3. Don't ride a motorbike
4. Don't come here if you are suicidal, insane or both
5. Don't come here if you have a dodgy ticker

Unfortunately Cambodia seems to attract of a lot of people who tick all five boxes.

Basically waht you are saying is that I should not come here if I am an introverted Paranoid Psychopath who is happy playing video games all night and who enjoys studying chemistry, biology and geology by day?

starkmonster wrote: ↑Thu Apr 16, 2020 1:59 pm Cambodia survival playbook:

1. Don't take hard drugs
2. Don't self medicate
3. Don't ride a motorbike
4. Don't come here if you are suicidal, insane or both
5. Don't come here if you have a dodgy ticker

Unfortunately Cambodia seems to attract of a lot of people who tick all five boxes.

i must admit i hate riding motorbikes. i am always worried it will tip over and i will lose one of my legs I am also worried someone will crash into me as i am walking down the street. I would feel safer in a room full of Cobras than on the street with motorcycle drivers. At least the Cobras are pleasant to look at as I love snakes.