Heading to Cambodia

Welcome to my new blog.  For my friends who are unaware, I am heading off to Cambodia next month.  This is a move that has been a long time in the coming, and I thought I would explain a little about why I am moving to a new country.

I have lived in Chiang Mai Thailand for the last ten years.  I have been working at the AUA for nine years.  (The longest time I have ever worked anywhere.)  I have enjoyed my time in Chiang Mai, but I have become bored with what I'm doing over the last couple of years.  I have gotten in a rut, and I feel like I've been stagnating.  I haven't been trying new things, or having new experiences.  I first started thinking about moving two years ago, but I needed to get my finances in order and a friend of mine had a bad accident.  I felt like I needed to stick around until his situation was resolved (at least until his return to England).  It just wasn't the time to leave.  So I waited and paid of some debts and planned.

My original plan was to move down to Southern Thailand, near the sea and the islands.  I would also be closer to Bangkok, which would make international traveling a little cheaper.  I still think that in the future I will end up chilling on the beach in Prachuap, Chumpon, or Rayong.  But that will have to wait now.  The thing that caused me to start looking at moving to another country was the military coup that occurred here in May of 2014.  In most ways the coup and living under a military dictator does not affect my daily life too much.  I still get up and go to work the same, socialize with the same people, and can come and go the same. 

We have always had issues with free speech here in Thailand.  We have never been free to speak our minds on certain subjects, and that is even more true today.  Constantly having to censor your thoughts before speaking really grates on the mind after while.  In addition, it is depressing to see the country slip further and further backwards in terms of human rights, fair treatment of the poor, minorities, and the dispossessed.  The current government is proudly leaded the country on a charge back to the nineteenth century.  The economy is stagnating because of government mismanagement, and the promised reforms of education, the bureaucracy, and the police have gone nowhere.  The government has lowered its sights, and now its major reform agenda is making sure that in the weekly lottery, tickets sell for the correct price of 80 baht a pair.  Anyway, it really gets one down to see a country one loves brought so low. 

I considered moving to a number of countries including Indonesia and Taiwan.  I finally decided to move to Cambodia for a number of reasons.  I have been there before, in 2009 and really enjoyed it.  At the time I said to myself, "Cambodia is a great place to visit, but I don't think I could live there."  But both I and Cambodia have changed and I think I'm ready to give it a go.  I have also had a long time fascination with Cambodia, going back to the late seventies and early eighties, when the truth about the Khmer Rouge was coming out, and Cambodia was an incredibly exotic and dangerous destination.  I have continued to read about the country, its struggles, the government, the land and the people.  The final reason for moving to Cambodia is that long term visas are incredibly easy to secure and not really expensive.

I will be living in Phnom Penh (at least at first) and I will be looking for work as an English teacher.  In the long run I may look for some other kind of work (no, not running drugs), but until I get established I will stick with what I know. 

I will miss my friends here in Thailand, so if you consider yourself in that category, I'll say goodbye and I know I'll be back to visit at some point.  If you come to PP, feel free to look me up.