Doug Casey's Take [ep.#297] Destabilization of America

Is Siem Reap a good choice for an expat in 2023?

 Is Siem Reap a good choice for an expat in 2023?

I have been here six months in Siem Reap for six months now and have decided Siem Reap is a good choice for expating, retiring ect in 2023.

I arrived in Thailand six months ago and after visiting Thailand decided to check out Siem Reap Cambodia. I have heard its less developed and dangerous, which is not the case or at least in my experience Siem Reap Cambodia seems safe to me and extremely safe compared to most places in Latin America.

I haven't experienced and violent crime or petty theft at all in my time here in Siem Reap or Phnom Penn.

They use dollars here so its nice withdrawing US Dollars for a small fee of 4 bucks, and most ATMs let you withdraw up to 1,000 per time if you want.

For the expat or retiree or anyone looking to spend a lot of time in Cambodia, they have the retiree visa which all you do to qualify if prove your 55 and above and sign a document promising not to work here and that's it you are in.

If your not 55 and above you can apply for the E visa which lets you live and work here, I applied for the 1 year visa through an agency for 500 bucks and can renew in one year, and with the visa you can easily open a bank account and have a US Dollar account to send money if you so desire to get a portion of your wealth offshore, ABA Bank is the easiest just show up with a passport and a local phone number and maybe your rental contract. There are numerous banks to choose from if you can get it Philipps Bank the Singapore bank can give you access to shares in Singapore.

Depending on your needs theres a lot of banks to choose from just make sure you use one of the high street banks if you are going to deposit a lot of money here.

As far as renting here theres a lot of choices for all budgets, in low season you can rent as low as 60 bucks a month, for something nicer 250 and above will do the trick and all you need is the deposit and first months rent and maybe a contract all places are different.

You can rent motor bike and bicycle's  easily and cheaply.

Getting around in Siem reap is cheap and easy, just use PassApp or walk, most PassApp trips cost me .75 or a buck. 

It doesn't cost much to fly here or take a bus to the Capital. 20 bucks or less for a bus to the Capital, 60 or less to fly. Theres a nice airport here in Siem Reap where you can fly to Bangkok or Phnom Penn cheaply 60 to 80 bucks sometimes less if you buy in advance.

Food at stalls is 1.25 to 3.00 bucks, 5 bucks and up at restaurants. You can also cook here a gas canister is 5 bucks and last me about three months. Eating out is so cheap that's what I do most of the time.

Beer at the bars is .50 to .75 for draft beer, or a buck for bottled beer they have craft beer fo 4 bucks and up. These are July 2023 prices. Theres all kinds of places the eat here but most places that are nice will not be more than 20 bucks a plate at the nicer ones 7.50 for the stuff I get or if I get local food 5 or less unless it s  a stall the 2 to 3 bucks.

Its nice here peaceful safe not much crime the only thing I have experienced is getting short changed, it takes a while to get used to the use of Riles and dollars.

How much is the clinic in Siem Ream Cambodia?

I just got back from the clinic, its on Charles De Gualle St. Mondul 1village, Svay Dankum Commune, Siem Reap City, Cambodia 

I woke up and didnt feel well, so wanted a check up on my blood pressure and sense its been a little high wanted to get it checked out.

Some of the clinics here over charge or their English isnt very good but this clinic is very modern the Doctor who treated me had excellent English and she and her team treated me well and respectful and didnt leave me feeling taken advantage of. 

Sometimes when your in a foreign country its hard to know who to trust to get good medical care but in this clinic, i got a blood test for 8,75, and the doctors fee was 20,and the medicine was 2 bucks and a service fee of 5 bucks for a total of 35,75.

The whole expierence too maybe an hour, i went in described my problem and was given a blood test and they took my blood pressure and then i lied down in a bed and waited for the result. 

The doctor was kind and nice and gave me the results of the blood test and sent me on my way.

Getting acupuncture in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

 Getting acupuncture in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Where I got acupuncture is Siem Reap Cambodia?

This is where I went The place is called AN XIN TANG, I am on my second treatment and feal great. 

I went their for high blood pressure and other things and it was my first time to try Chinese medicine, acupuncture. 

It was a fun affordable experience, it costs ten dollars per session and lasts about forty five minute's. You lie on your front side for about twenty minutes while she puts in the pins then your backside for maybe another twenty minutes. 

Sense it was my first time I didn't know what to expect but after the second session I seem yo have felt a shifting of "energy" I am not sure what happened but I feel a lot better and recommend acupuncture if you happen to be in Siem Reap, Cambodia and the sessions are only ten dollars per time.

Tomorrow I will do my third session and if all goes well will try some more. 

If you like and enjoy a new experience and want to try Chinese medicine and have never tried acupuncture and want to see how it goes 30 dollars for three sessions is pretty affordable in July 2023.

Give it a try.

https://web.facebook.com/people/An-Xin-Tang-Traditional-Chinese-medical-therapy-%E5%AE%89%E5%BF%83%E5%A0%82/100054395266179/?_rdc=1&_rdr

Where to go in a world gone mad?

 

Where to go in a world gone mad?

I have been traveling in Cambodia in the last few months and have found it to be affordable and safe and a pleasant place to stay if you don't like living in the States any more.

I ended up in Siem Reap Cambodia and found it walkable, safe and clean and very nice people. I have found an abundant selection of cheap apartments starting at 60 to 250 USD a month, and you only need one month deposit and the first months rent and maybe a lease.

My utilities are about 60 bucks a month and the internet that's included in the rent is pretty reliable and fast.

If you need a job for income there's an abundant amount of jobs teaching English without a degree and a few jobs being a bar tender if you enjoy that. If you work online the internet here is pretty fast and about 20 bucks a month or less.

Eating out doesn't cost much maybe 3.50 and up for western food and 2.00 to 3.00 bucks or less for local food. Everyone's cost of living will be less but I can live here on 800 dollars a month or less.

My rents 250.00 and I spend a few hundred on food sometimes more if I eat out, but if you buy western food or buy western imported beer and food then it will cost you more. I spend 1 dollar to 2 bucks for coffee depending where I go. 

I spend 20 bucks a month to rent a bicycle a moto will be 60 to 90 a month.

I live close to Thailand and its a days trip to get to Bangkok, or a one hour plane trip, a plane ticket is about 60 bucks sometimes less. I can fly right out of Siem Reap into Thailand and then transfer to Manila or Japan or wherever I want to visit.

If your looking for an affordable destination to maybe escape the rat race Cambodia might be for you, I forgot to mention a one year visa was under 600 for the full year and takes about a week to get. I also forgot to mention once you get the visa you can easily open a bank account and use the local hospitals for a little lower fees than if your just a tourist.

Why you need gold

 

Gold has traded up to and exceeded 2000 an ounce.

I believe why you will need gold is not because it will continue rising to 2400 an ounce and higher but because its one of the few assets thats not a liability of the banks or the government.

As we curreen down the path of bankrupcy and currency debasement it will be important to have assets that are not only private but beyond the scope of governments to sieze and inflate away to pay for promises that can never be repaid.

As the debts pile up more governments will need to debase currencies and or tax other assets to buy them time before they default on there promises to pay promised benefits.

Gold held in your own posesion or offshore will help carry yoyrself to the otherside but that assumes there is no collapse in society which isnt garrenteed.

Every passing day people demand government fix things by stealing from one group of people to give to another. This is happening all over the world and there are few places to escape to except maybe the Pasific Islas or South America.

Gold may help you rebuild or readjust if you decide to escape the Western World and start over somewhere else.

I think its best to buy now and beat the last minute rush, it maybe to late if you wait and prices maybe much higher.

Now that Western Countries are on the lookout for one ounce coins I suggest 1/4 ounce coins like British Sovereigns or coins like Swiss Helvitias.

How to open a bank account in Cambodia

How to open a bank account at ABA Bank in Cambodia

You will need three things to open a bank account in Cambodia. This imformation is as of May 2023.

First you will need a long term visa, not a tourist visa, although under some cercumstances ABA Bank will open an account with a tourist visa.

So as you enter the country make sure you get a business visa. When you get that exstend this visa for six months to one year. They will stamp a one year visa in your passport which you will show the bank. 

The next thing you will need is a local phone number, a sim card will do the trick, they cost one dollar and up.

The third thing they will ask for is a lease agreement fow when you rent an apartment. Its posible to rent with one month but I usually get a three month agreement.

It will take about an hour or less for the bank to process your account.

After that I suggest using their APP for banking because it will make it much easier to pay people without using cash and it will ease transfering money from your bank account back home.

WHY WOULD YOU WANT A BANK ACCOUNT OFFSHORE?

Well its nice to have a local account thats outside of your home government they cant easily sieze. Its also cheaper to use apps to send money from your home country than useing bank wires or ATM cards.

Its also nice having money outside your ceeditors reach if you ever have the need for that.

Here in Cambodia banking is done in US Dollars which makes banking in a hard currency nice.

To close off, banking at ABA Bank is one of the easier banks to set up an account and get a debit card and a US Dollar account.

What's Cambodia like in 2023?

What's Cambodia like in 2023?

What's it like living in Cambodia? In the last few months I have lived in Cambodia, Siem Reap to be exact and really enjoy the cost of living the ease of getting a long term visa and the selection of affordable apartments.

When I first arrived in Siem Reap Cambodia, I got a long term visa called the business visa not the tourist visa, I ended up getting the 1 year visa for around 500 USD and now can live here at least one year before it needs to be renewed.

I ended up getting an apartment for 250 USD per month. There are many apartments starting at 60 dollars USD and up all the way to several thousand dollars a month. I like that at least as of now May 30, 2023 there still is a lot of selection for apartments in the 150 to 250 and all you need is one months rent and a deposit.

Its pretty easy to find an apartment get a three month ;ease or less or longer if you want, I just do three months and then look for new places to get an idea of which neighborhood I like. When I first arrived in Siem Reap I got an apartment and a pretty big one sort of in the country side but the internet wasn't to good, and the internet providers told where I lived there wasn't really any other choices so I moved into town and got something better with better internet connections.

I need a pretty good connection to work online so just had to suck it up and move. 

If you need to work teaching English at one of the local schools its not to hard even if you don't have a college degree, so for some people it might be an advantage if you want to leave the States and start over in another country. Now with all the online jobs you don't really need a local job but if for whatever reason you desire local employment its here. Usually wages are a bit low compared to what they were before Covid, now they are around 800 to 900 for 20 hours of work.

I can live on less than a 1000 a month but everyone's different so can say what different people might need. I don't hang out in bars so don't really spend a lot so if you are looking for a low cost place to live and an easy visa Cambodia might be for you. Most of the western restaurants start at 5 bucks and up for food and the local places can be under two bucks and up for a dish of food, beer at the local stores .50 cents and up.

Another nice thing is there are are a lot of expats here so you have a lot of potential opportunities to network with foreigners if you want.

The culture is pretty mellow much like Thailand or the Philippines, and people for the most part can communicate in English so you will not have a hard time adjusting to living here like maybe Latin America. I find the cost of living a little higher than say Mexico or Guatemala.

The weather is pretty hot compared to the Altiplano of Mexico or Guatemala and it takes some getting used too, its even hotter than the Philippines but the split level air con they have has helped me take the heat.

If you live in Siam Reap your about 6 hours from Bangkok so its easy to fly out of Bangkok to go anywhere in Asia pretty cheap but they do have an airport here if you don't like taking the bus.

So all in all if you want to get out of the States for awhile Cambodia can be a nice and affordable place to live make some money and save to get ahead while you live a less stress fee life.