I'm on my way!

It really depends, on what your looking for, 300$ bedroom seems like abit cheap, you can find it at that price but to me ( im from canada ) i think its unlivable, not clean bad neighberhood etc, 500$ you can find a nice spot with 2-3 bedrooms, not sure about sihanouk vile.

Michael

Hi everyone and welcome onboard Kernow2017,

Have a look at the Cost of living in Cambodia - 2017, it could be useful.

All the best,
Bhavna

There is enough available for $300 in Sihanoukville, also under and above. PP is expensive.

There is no other way to find out then to go to the place you prefer, stay in a guesthouse and visit rooms or houses for rent, see for yourself and decide.

Good luck!

Steve, how about visiting first before deciding to move there to avoid any avoidable costs and disappointment?

I would also doubt that Cambodia is cheaper than the Philippines. It really isn't the cheap Charlie heaven of SE Asia, despite recurring claims, insisting that it should play that role into all eternity. I'd guess that if you really want a 3BR house, you are looking at more than $300.

I'd try the Kampot/Kep area. Not that well endowed in the beach area but perhaps cheaper and more classy (to put it nicely).

Thanks ... so Kampot is better than Sihanoukville for quality of life? Btw, I am prepared to pay more for a 3 bed house but wanted to check the information that Cambodia is very low prices against what I seem to be seeing when I actually check prices.

Sihanoukville has a bit of a reputation but take a look at it and take a look at Kampot/Kep (or somewhere else in Cambodia, of course).

Some 1BR houses start at $150 - apartments at even less.

More important is what kind of environment you are looking for.

As a Sihanoukville resident I can only confirm that it is a nice seaside resort with beautiful beaches, plenty of good restaurants, enough bars to enjoy those that like it.

It's of course all about what you're looking for, it you don't like beaches and the sea, go Kampot, very quiet and no sea, Kep has sea but is not developed yet. Koh kong has sea but is also not developed yet.
PP has everything a big city has, including too much traffic and bad air quality.

For me personally Sihanoukville represents the good life,  hanging out at the beach in one of the luxury resorts (my choice, there are cheaper beach bars too) beats anything. Later having dinner at a nice restaurant (international choice) followed by a stroll through the bar areas makes a good day.
Traffic is not bad at all, air is very clean, garbage cleaning could be better.

Regularly I go to PP for the action and special shopping, but after 4 days I'm always glad to be back in "my" Sihanoukville. Of course my personal experience and opinion.

I follow an earlier advice: come to Cambodia and stay in different places, look around, ask, inquire, and then make your choice of place to stay. It's personal, you have to do it yourself. Good luck!

Thanks very much for your advice and I will certainly look at Sihanoukville and then Kep .... I love the sea and beaches, as an environment more than for the swimming, so I think Kampot would not suit me as much. I do intend to reside in an hotel or resort when I come there so that I can explore those to areas.

I'm sorry JoeKhmer but "it you don't like beaches and the sea, go Kampot, very quiet and no sea..." is ridiculous. Not only is Kampot right on the coast (check any map), it has an estuary/river to boot making for a very scenic and beautiful environment. There is a vibrant expat scene and it stopped being quiet years ago. And really, as a vacationer the beach is mighty important, of course but as an expat a lot less so.

It may sound like I'm knocking Sihanoukville and I will admit that my personal impression of it is not that favorable (great gateway to the islands, of course) but my main concerns are crime, the types of people attracted to it and number of expat & tourist deaths. The stats for this year so far:

Phnom Penh 15
Sihanoukville 15
Koh Rong 1
Siem Reap 2
Mondulkiri 1

And this is representative for Sihanoukville year after year with it pulling shoulder to shoulder with the capital in this sad statistic.


Enjoy coming to visit, Steve.

My first answer, I come back to Kampot later.

Your "stats" are rubbish, here are the stats for 2017 of reported deaths and the cause of death.

Phnom Penh: 27
Sihanoukville: 20
Siem Reap: 6
Battambang: 3
Pailin: 2
Kampong Chnang: 1
Kampong Thom: 1
Kandal: 1
Koh Kong: 1
Mondulkiri: 1
Poipet: 1

The majority of deaths in Sihanoukville was caused by heart attack, kidney failure, brain hemorrhage and natural causes, the second most occurring cause of death is suicide, the third is traffic deaths.

So not something to be afraid of, people die, people commit suicide, the same all over the world.

Years ago there was higher criminality as two Russian gangsters fought each other. When a new police chief was appointed he got everything solved, one Russian was jailed, the other deported. Since years there is not more criminality than in any other town.

Mr_Dome wrote:

I'm sorry JoeKhmer but "it you don't like beaches and the sea, go Kampot, very quiet and no sea..." is ridiculous. Not only is Kampot right on the coast (check any map), it has an estuary/river to boot making for a very scenic and beautiful environment. There is a vibrant expat scene and it stopped being quiet years ago. And really, as a vacationer the beach is mighty important, of course but as an expat a lot less so.

From Cambodia tourism: Kampot's main draw is its relaxing riverside setting. While there is a sizable town set back from the river, most tourists will spend most of their time enjoying the river.
Another quote: Kampot has a relaxed and sleepy atmosphere.
And this shows it is not at the sea: The small town of Kampot on the Tuk Chhou River is 5km inland from the sea.

It's a quiet town, totally different from the lively atmosphere of Sihanoukville. There are less restaurants, so less choice, less bars, so less choice, it's just a very quiet place to go, nice, I go there myself to visit a friend, but I'm always glad to go back to Sihanoukville.

Sea and beach is not for expats? Come on, you must know better. Here in Sihanoukville you will find loads of expats at the many beaches, relaxing and socializing. There are about 10 beaches along the stretch of the coast, so plenty of choice to find the place to relax. Then there are the islands, one hour boat trip away, beautiful islands that attract many people.
So only if you don't like beaches Sihanoukville might not be for you. In every other way it's the place to go, also most Khmers from PP come down to Sihanoukville on special days, they want to be at the sea.

Joe, reading your post makes me feel ashamed of myself ( your so knowledgable of my country ) just got back a here about a year ago, I've visited both places once and i can surely say your description are on point. All hail to joe 😂😂

JoeKhmer wrote:

Your "stats" are rubbish, here are the stats for 2017 of reported deaths and the cause of death.

Phnom Penh: 27
Sihanoukville: 20
Siem Reap: 6
Battambang: 3
Pailin: 2
Kampong Chnang: 1
Kampong Thom: 1
Kandal: 1
Koh Kong: 1
Mondulkiri: 1
Poipet: 1

Sad to see, it's over 30% more even for Sihanoukville. As you are proving my point even more, I don't think "rubbish' is the term that fits here.

In regards to your part 2, just let the guy come visit and check it out for himself. As I mentioned before, he didn't hint at what type of requirements or wishes he has for his new home area and that's going to be the big one. If Sihanoukville is it for him, I'd be very happy for him.

Mr. Dome you have a bad memory and a not too skilled way of discussing.

YOU visualized the alleged crime in Sihanoukville with foreigner deaths and gave wrong stats.

I explained that the number of foreigner deaths is higher but that the number one cause of death is natural causes like heart attack and other ailments. Number two cause is suicide.

So you can hardly count those deaths as a result of crime, they are not.

There is crime in Sihanoukville, like in every town. It for sure is not "rubbish" as you call it.
Your aversion against Sihanoukville could be a result of having been rejected by a girl, or even cheated by a girl, which makes you hate the whole city. Childish, to say it nicely.

I also recommended the OP to come over and have a look himself, he confirmed that that is his plan. So you could have left it there, as the original question was answered. But you needed to bash Sihanoukville, which is not only wrong but also not in the interest of the original poster.