Visa, income tax, etc.

I understand from other reading that foreigners can get two kinds of visas:

• Tourist visas cost $20 each. They allow a foreigner to have a social visit for up to a month. These either cannot be renewed, or can be renewed only once. Children like my daughter will be allowed the same kind of entry for $5, although they do not get a receipt for this unlike the adults.
  
  
• Business visas cost $25 each. They can be renewed many times. Experience renewing is described on http://www.bayonpearnik.com/Cambodia/TravelInformation.html. I wonder how my daughter will fit into this category since she will be too young to do business?

Nationals of some countries as the Philippines may have a 21-day permit to visit the country without a visa.

I wonder how the business visa will tie into income tax? Ie. I will not draw a salary in Cambodia. The support for my living there will come from home. Will this money be considered as income taxable in Cambodia? Will my visa condition look for this income? Will a Cambodian company or national be regarded as my employer for the sake of this visa?

Do you know?

Other blogs

A couple of other Australians with experience in Cambodia has shared some things in their blogs.

http://www.pdw212.blogspot.com/

http://brownsincambodia.blogspot.com/

I learnt some things from what they wrote.

Managing Phnom Penh traffic

Apparently, there are four kinds of public transport that travel around the roads of Phnom Penh:

• Taxis: Regular cars that take passengers for a fare. I haven't tried these, so I don't know if they are metered, flat-fee, etc. I imagine they work the same way taxis work in most other countries.
  
  
• Moto (or motordop): Similar to taxis, but a motorcycle instead of a car. I haven't tried these either. I don't know if they carry one passenger, two or more. These are pretty common and pretty popular among Cambodians.
  
  
• Tuk-tuk: A cart drawn by a motorcycle. It is a slow means of travelling and more expensive than just a moto, but more people travel with you for the same price. This is popular among tourists and Cambodians travelling in a group.
  
  
• Siklo: A pedal-powered means of transport, very similar to the trishaws of Penang, Malaysia.
  

It appears that one has to hire the whole vehicle, instead of just having a ticket in order to use a seat. The transport will take you anywhere you want to within the city for the right price. I wonder how one communicates with the drivers before one has acquired the language?

There are buses in Phnom Penh, but these are for inter-city travel; not for going around the city.

Another way of getting around is by driving or hiring a bike. I don't know how one passes the oral driving test before acquiring language either.

I found this page useful though, while trying to understand the traffic system.

Have you any experience to share?

Broadband internet

My family and I arrived in Phnom Penh yesterday for initial contact with our office and to look for accomodation, etc.

A question that comes to mind is where to find Internet access. Of course, we can use it from the office, but how about from home? From an internet cafe? What other possibilities are there?

I googled and found:

• PPCTV was well placed among the Google findings, but some back-door trojans reside on their website. Besides, their website is out of date. I am not sure if I want to subscribe to them.
  
  
• Cambodian Broadband Technologies seems to have good offering, but they seem to cater more to business customers compared to home users. Their website also does not seem current.

• Go Online seems to have a good range of products that suit both the home user as well as the business corporations.
  
  
• Angkor Net seems to be a well grounded ISP with the right range of products.
  
  
• Yellowpages-cambodia seems to be a good directory to use to find things like these.
  

What do you think? Please recommend, if you have any ideas in this area. Thank you.

"Birdhouse"

My daughter has seen many of these around Cambodia.

Apparently, they are shrines that people would burn incense at while worshipping certain idols. I guess they are the home equivalent of the temples and wats that are abundant in this country.

They are more elaborate compared to the ones I saw in Malaysia and Singapore when I was a child. They are also yellow instead of red. (I saw a red one in the home of a German guy I met, and a blue one or two, but most of what I saw were yellow).

My daughter has yet to get the concept. She calls them "birdhouses", based on a picture she saw in one of her activity books, as she sees the similarity.

My daughter is cute, but I don't think she means any offense.

Health & polution

Does anybody know what the polution index is in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia? How does this index compare with that of other cities like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Manila?

I hear that there is a shortage of medical professionals in the country. Is this true? Who then do people turn to when they need medical help?

Walking in the rain

A friend told me today that umbrellas are not common in Cambodia.

She said that people use raincoats, and do not mind getting wet.

People do not use umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun either.

Hmm. This is a potential culture-shock for us, since we try to stay dry even when it rains.

What is your experience about this?