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I have just got off the phone to the Cambodian wife, now widow, of Don Smythe, an American national, former US Peace Corps, who had lived in a Cambodian village, SRE SIAM, in Tbong Khmum Province, Cambodia, with his Khmer wife and two children, for close to twenty years now; and known under many forum aliases, but more recently as Ta Barang. Don died a painful death of prostate cancer at his home one week ago. His passing was very quick according to his wife.

Don was a very direct speaking American who, quite correctly, did not suffer fools gladly on matters relating to Cambodia. Don, through assimilation and total immersion in a small Cambodian village over nearly two decades, had a very thorough understanding and fluency in Khmer, had a very deep and practical understanding of Cambodian/Khmer social anthropology, well beyond the comprehension of any academic on this forum or elsewhere. Don lived the life that PHD candidates write about but do not truly experience.

I am not the person to write an obituary to forum for Don. But he is a man I greatly admired, notwithstanding his very may detractors of lesser understanding than himself, on numerous forums.

Yes, he was somewhat blunt and to the point. And not the easiest or most sociable of persons.
But no one on this or related forums ever came close to his depth of knowledge or understanding of rural Cambodia and its culture.

Vale Don Smythe - and all good fortune to his Cambodian widow Kheang, and his two bi-cultural children.

Now, which of the many expatriates residing in Cambodia and vocal on this or related forums will step up to the plate and assist his Cambodian widow claim the US benefits she may now be entitled to?

Vale Don Smythe.

OML

Thanks for letting us know.
Condolences and all the best to his wife and kids. RIP Taa.

Sorry to hear this, I liked TaBarang. I think it was generally known he wasn't the best what with his enquiries in regard to various pharmaceuticals that might serve for a comfortable passing - I'm saddened to know it was a painful end for him.

Yes, he sometimes came across as an irascible curmudgeonly old boot, but if TaBarang was saying it, most others were thinking it. He reminded me of the irritable old expats of yesteryear who are now so few in number - the kind of fellow one can easily get totally pissed with at a bar, willingly not having to contribute much to the conversation. He'd invited me to his place if and when I got back to Cambodia, I'd wanted to visit him.

Another of the old characters gone.

RIP

on to a new adventure. RIP
Not just to speculate or be morbid but
i wonder if he did himself in? as he was asking about that before.

AFAIK: and this was gone thru on past thread, she is not entitled to any US benefits unless she had lived in the states

However, a foreign spouse who is a citizen or resident of certain countries – among them Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom – can receive spousal social security benefits if the following rules are met:

The foreign spouse has reached full retirement age;
Social Security benefits are currently being received by the retired spouse who worked in the US; and
The retired spouse and foreign spouse have lived together in the US for at least five years while married (doesn’t have to be continuous) in the case where the foreign spouse is not a citizen or a resident of certain countries such as the ones listed above.

Can a foreign spouse of American expats receive social security spousal benefits?

As a general rule, a foreign spouse cannot obtain social security spousal benefits if the both rules are met:

1. Foreign spouse is not a US citizen or green card holder.
2. Foreign spouse has lived outside of the USA for six consecutive months.

Sorry to hear. He mentioned he was sick a while ago and he hasn't posted for a bit. A shame pain was involved.

We had talked via phone sometime ago, about the time I had problems here with prostate. I was hoping we would meet up, he did actually invite me over but things didn't seem to work out with one thing or another, although at the time he knew I passed near his place daily. Then later I read he may have passed or something of that nature. Until a friend told me he had seen him, then he was posting now and again on the forum, and made clear of his illness.
Sorry to hear of his passing, and condolences to his family.

I will miss Don. I know he was talking about going earlier, so I'm glad to hear he hung in there until now. All though he could be a right pain in the ass sometimes, I really liked his posts, and that's the cost of always speaking your mind, you're going to upset a few people here and there. He was well aware of what a pain in the ass he was sometimes, so kudos for that as well, lol. And like you said OML, his knowledge about most things Cambodia was very vast, which is always good to see on here.

Very sad he left behind a family, but he lived a good life, and we all check out eventually.

May he rest in peace and condolences to his family.

RIP TAA

I generally liked his posts. RIP Ta Barang.

Note: I almost passed up this post. Might be worth editing the headline, adding Ta Barang.