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I’m nearing the end of my vacation in Cambodia, and although I will be very happy to reunite with my friends and family in Texas, I can’t say I’m too thrilled about leaving Cambodia. I’m almost 100% sure that I will return to Cambodia soon, next time to stay for good. I’ll still be traveling back and forth between Cambodia and America, but I’ll go to the U.S. only to visit, not to stay.

I keep telling people here if they could make $400 to $500 a month, they’d be better off in Cambodia than anywhere else in the world. Some agree; others still want to leave at all costs. Someone told me that if Cambodians were allowed to immigrate to other countries at will, they’d be very few Khmers left in Cambodia. And as much as I hate to admit it, I think he might be right.

I don’t have any problems with people wanting to leave. People might want to leave for a variety of personal, economic and political reasons. Truth be told, it’s not that easy to make $400 to $500 a month here. Many young Cambodians have trouble finding jobs when they finish school, and college graduates start out at just $100 to $200 a month. Granted, academic standards are lower here; a Bachelor’s Degree here is not quite equivalent to one earned in the U.S. Still, $150 is not much even in Cambodia, especially at today’s inflation rates. Thankfully, things are improving as Cambodia is undergoing a rapid transition toward a more democratic and economically developed country.

Some people want to leave Cambodia because they view living in a Western country as some sort of status symbol. They argue that they need to leave Cambodia in order to have “jivit thlai thno” (dignified life) in some foreign land. This I’d have to disagree with. If they cannot have “jivit thlai thno” in Srok Khmer, how can they have one anywhere else?

Cambodians immigrate to America, Canada, and France only because there are already large Khmer communities there to help them adapt to their new environments. No one wants to go to Japan, Great Britain, or other rich nations where there are very few Khmers. In my view, there is a problem with the logic of wanting to flee from your own people only to seek out your own people elsewhere.

The good news is that more and more people agree with me when I tell them that there is nothing special (”veer kmean sa-ey oss ja thay”) about living in America. Apparently, more and more Cambodians from abroad are coming here to speak the truth about their adopted countries. They speak about the benefits as well as the challenges of living overseas. They’re no longer using their “anik-a-joun” (Cambodians living abroad) status to garner special attention from the locals.

As for myself, I am convinced that I’d have a much more successful and meaningful life in Cambodia if my family had never fled the country 27 years ago. I don’t blame my parents for their decision to flee Cambodia in 1980 because the circumstances were very different back. I’m going to cut my losses short and move back to Cambodia as soon as I can. However, I’ll come back as somewhat of an outsider, after having spent most of my childhood and adulthood abroad. Although I am very grateful for the education I received in the U.S., I had lost much of the ability to relate with my own people and will have to basically start all over again.

My future home.

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Hi Everyone,

I’m currently working and sipping coffee at a place called Meeting Cafe on the corner of Nheru and Russian Boulevards in Phnom Penh. Meeting Cafe is one of the many trendy coffee houses that serve a variety of coffee and fruit drinks as well as Khmer and international dishes. These places are highly popular among affluent Khmer businessmen and professionals for conducting business and social meetings.

I spend several hours a day at these places because they offer free wireless internet that you can access through your own laptop. I don’t mind sitting here for hours at a time because of the inviting atmosphere, friendly staff, good food and drinks and other amenities that you might find at your local Starbucks in the U.S.

Unlike Starbucks, however, you can hang out here for an hour or two sipping tea and coffee, chatting with your friends or business associates, reading the paper, or browsing the internet for a just a couple dollars a person. Add a couple dollars more and you’ll get a good, hearty lunch, too.

This is my fourth week in Cambodia and I’m still observing and studying how I might fit into the Cambodian society. I have been visiting Srok Khmer every five or six months and hope to settle down here permanently in the near future. (My internet business allows me to work from anywhere in the world; otherwise, there’d be no way I could afford to come here so often.)

I have been living in the U.S. since the age of nine, and much of Cambodia had become alien to me. However, the more often I visit Cambodia, the more I am convinced that there is a place for me here. While it’s way too premature to declare that I’ll have a better life here, I feel ten years younger– physically and spiritually– whenever I’m here. Plus, I have been able to have a great time here without visiting the nightclubs, karaoke bars, and whorehouses like many guys come here to do.

I can honestly say that the only things I miss about America are my friends and family there….oh, and the juicy Angus rib-eye steaks that I can’t seem to find anywhere in Phnom Penh. Most people here now even mistake me for a native Phnom Penh resident rather than someone from abroad, so I guess I’ve learned to blend in pretty well. Thankfully, I can speak Khmer fluently and have been able to retain much of my Khmer ways despite growing up mostly in the U.S.

Without going into details, I think this is an exciting time to be in Cambodia. The country is undergoing a very significant, positive transition– a transition from poverty and corruption toward greater democracy and economic sufficiency. To be sure, serious problems are still quite evident here, but there is no denying that the country is moving in the right direction. I think Cambodian expatriots like you and I could help make history by lending our education and experiences from abroad to this exciting transition.

But you don’t even have to come back to live here to help make a difference. Whenever Khmer people from abroad come to spend their money in Srok Khmer, they help improve the lives of local street-side vendors, restaurant workers, tuk-tuk drivers, and other ordinary Cambodians. Indeed, Khmer people from America, France, Canada and elsewhere could contribute to the rebuilding of Cambodia by spending our vacation dollars in our beloved homeland instead of, say, Rome, London, or Timbuktu. Besides, you’ll get so much more for your money here, so why go anywhere else?

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Phum Wapator (Cambodian Cultural Center)

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Phsa Thmey (Central Market) from the top floor of Soriya Shopping Mall. This is a very important Cambodian landmark in bad need of renovation.

Another Phnom Penh cityscape.

You’ll find construction like this all over Cambodia, thanks to the booming real estate market. A typical construction laborer makes about 10,000 riels ($2.50 USD) a day, often under sweltering heat and poor safety conditions.

Fresh tropical fruits.

American-style fast food restaurant. Owing to fresh ingredients and preparation, the fried chicken pictured above was ten times better than that of KFC in Houston.

Unlike in America, restaurants that serve junk food (hamburgers, pizza, fried chicken, etc.) are considered trendy and upscale here, catering mostly to foreigners and affluent Khmers. Most Cambodians are still skinny, but I’m spotting more and more obese Khmer people…I’m not sure if they’re locals or from abroad.

Happy kids. Despite all the poverty here, most people seem very happy, as evidenced by their warm, genuine smiles and laid-back lifestyles. This is in sharp contrast to the stressful, hustle-and-bustle American way of life. It goes without saying that if you’re Khmer, life is much more enjoyable and meaningful here, unless you’re so poor that you cannot afford food, shelter and basic medical care for your family.

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