Phnom Penh - Post Report Question and Answers
What are the particular advantages of living in this city?
The convenience: you can get anything delivered, not just food. I get meds delivered to my door when I'm sick. I had a tuktuk drive over my husband's passport to the airport when we forgot it once. Eating out is super affordable: like $30-40 dinners for a family of four. Affordable household help. For a city of 2 million with almost nonexistent public transport, traffic is not terrible...yet. - May 2024
Low cost of living, kind local population, warm weather all-year-round, the convenience of ordering anything and having it delivered to your door within minutes, Cambodians love children so your children will feel loved, any kind of cuisine you desire is available. - Jul 2021
No Covid. - Nov 2020
Rich culture, lots of culinary adventures to be had, a diverse community of expats to hang out with, generally pretty affordable compared to the US although more expensive than you'd expect for a developing country and considering the average local salary. - May 2017
It may be the least expensive place I have ever lived. You can literally get anything done or made if you just ask. Lots of cool and interesting people to meet. Great travel. - Oct 2016
Hardship differiential, cheap hired help and tuk-tuk drivers. Tuk-tuks are fine for a while. But better just to buy a car instead of relying on a tuk-tuk driver. You can always use the extra money to hire another maid. Locals don't earn much so it's nice to spread the wealth; especially to the poorer young adults with little education. - May 2015
Phnom Penh is a very easy place to live. It's also cheap. You can easily hire domestic help and not break the bank. There are a gazillion restaurants with every type of cuisine Americans are used to eating, including Mexican! Restaurants are cheap, so you can eat out all the time. Everything can be delivered to your home or the Embassy, including a single cup of coffee. I fell in love with the silk fabric. I had a ton of clothing made or altered by a tailor. - Feb 2015
There is lots to see in Phnom Penh and just outside of it, if you can stand the heat. There are many great places to visit besides Angkor Wat, like the beaches (some only a couple of hours away), and the villages can be fun to explore too if you're more adventurous. The culture is very rich here and you won't get tired of seeing monks hopping on the back of motos or tuk tuks for a quick ride. - Aug 2013
Phnom Penh is all about balance. No one single aspect of life here is off-the-charts awful or fantastic, but the mix of factors is great. It's a nice balance between a comfort, cost of living, a little edginess, interesting work opportunities, friendly locals and interesting expats, and good travel opportunities. It's just about perfect in my opinion. - Jan 2012
The locals are very kind people, it is very inexpensive to live, eat & shop. Travel to other countries is very cheap and we saved alot of money througout our tour here. - Aug 2011
Traveling around South East Asia and learning with buddhist culture - Aug 2011
Fantastic historical sites: Angkor Wat. Also, very easy to travel to Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand. If you work for the U.S. Government, you will find that the hardship pay for Cambodia is quite generous (25%).Things are generally pretty cheap, especially alcohol. Two people could easily fill themselves up on $10 total. - Oct 2010
