Insight from an expat

"Everyone I know in Ban Lung has a scooter or car but they are still quite poor."

?????

By which standard?. By western standards maybe, but by local standards a car owner must be really wealthy. In 1% highest earning bracket for sure.

"?????"

They could have sold a few pieces of wood or a couple of pangolins to Vietnam and they took all the proceeds and bought a used scooter or a used car. Very easy to figure out. Top 1% ! Hahaahaa!

Yeah Mangoholic, it is pretty easy to spot posters with no in-country experience. Mere possession of a vehicle does not admit you into the fraternity of Oknyas. Those vehicles would would look silly parked next to the shiny new Masserates, BMWs, and other high end vehicles. The top 1% are all personally acquainted with HE and not without reason. And furthermore it is silly to talk about an earning bracket in a country where corruption is not viewed as a problem, but a system, hence most wealth is hidden and revealed only in ostentatious gestures toward the hoi poloi.

And as for "You said is much covered everywhere but every 5 minutes I see a tourist going to buy powered milk. This is a VERY ACTIVE subject upon expats here..." Look the topic has been covered extensively in travel forums everywhere, especially in tripadvisor.com. Simply because other people do not know about it does NOT make your observation "insightful." Sorry that you guys in SR don't have more interesting topics to dwell on.

I really wonder why you are mean to for free like this with people ? Did I attacked you ?

I did my best, I am not a native english speaker and I thought the word insight was correctly used, but I was wrong. Because if for you it is stupid, I think that for many people who aren't reading, searching enough or are not tech savvy, this can perhaps be valuable information.

Recently, somebody told me he didn't his trip to Cambodia, was proposing a common friend to travel somewhere else instead, having being scammed during his trip.

Living here, I don't see this in my daily life and Khmer people are amazing people, worth being known and I try to make people enjoy their trip if I can. I could list several tour companies, that they will keep you out of scams and make you discover the real Cambodia, but it will be a biased comments. I let Lonely Planet do it by naming the right ones. But per example, the café with underpaid staff is listed everywhere as a place to go for peaceful veggie travellers.

Cambodia NEED tourism, but my point was that people (including myself) need to know more and ask questions when we travel. I don't have all the solutions to find the perfect places to go, sorry.

On a positive note, speaking of the Khmer people, they will never insult you freely and will offer a sincere smile.
Maybe you should come outside your lonely planet Sanityclause and discover other humans in the 3D life.

You have my business address, my name is Jeff. You are welcome to pass by and say Hello, but please don't destroy my whole business if the coffee is too cold using your online nickname. Just ask and I will make a new one ;)

I hope I will be able to contribute in other topics, like here about tips for digital nomads, I keep the faith about the community :)

Jeff

Yeah Mangoholic, it is pretty easy to spot posters with no in-country experience. Mere possession of a vehicle does not admit you into the fraternity of Oknyas. Those vehicles would would look silly parked next to the shiny new Masserates, BMWs, and other high end vehicles. The top 1% are all personally acquainted with HE and not without reason. And furthermore it is silly to talk about an earning bracket in a country where corruption is not viewed as a problem, but a system, hence most wealth is hidden and revealed only in ostentatious gestures toward the hoi poloi.

And as for "You said is much covered everywhere but every 5 minutes I see a tourist going to buy powered milk. This is a VERY ACTIVE subject upon expats here..." Look the topic has been covered extensively in travel forums everywhere, especially in tripadvisor.com. Simply because other people do not know about it does NOT make your observation "insightful." Sorry that you guys in SR don't have more interesting topics to dwell on.

"Maybe you should come outside your lonely planet Sanityclause and discover other humans in the 3D life."

First, you recycle well-known facts and present them as "insights", then you pretend to know about me. So, here is the truth. I have lived in Cambodia for 18 years-eleven of them rurally. I am married to a Cambodian and have two children. I speak fluent Cambodian and understand the social issues. Is that "3D"enough for you?

And again, "On a positive note, speaking of the Khmer people, they will never insult you freely and will offer a sincere smile." Well one could frequently question the sincerity of their smiles, but you should hear what they say about you in Cambodian. Have no fear over coffee that is too cold, you are not a person I wish to meet, quite the contrary. Get a life, then get some credibility.