Phnom Penh Update

[PapaBear]

Not to rub it in at all but we've been very lucky here in Cambodia. There has not been any real lockdown, no curfews, lots of cafes and restaurants have been open throughout and a cold drink was always available somewhere. Most of the gay bars closed during April but all opened up again on May 1. Unfortunately, not many punters for the bars as there are no tourists in Phnom Penh and many of the gay expats moved back to their respective countries as the pandemic took hold.

Blue Chili has been busy on the weekends with their drag show but probably 75% of the customers are now women and straights (Rupaul's Drag Race is very popular and trendy amongst the straight hipster crowd). Otherwise very quiet. Same with Space Hair and Toolbox.

Toolbox started up their dance and sexy boy show again last weekend which was fun. Lots of boys, but only about 15 customers. Many familiar boys from Jomtien Complex, many whom jumped on the stage during the sexy boy show.


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All the "soapy" massage places also opened up in early May. Lots of boys, again many familiar faces from Pattaya.

Plenty of boys on Grindr and Blued, but very frustrating. Probably 80% are time-wasters with fake profiles/pix and many of the boys are asking for $80 to $100. Typical - same as in Thailand - fewer customers so jack up the price. Dumb idiots. Fortunately, there are still enough boys who will gladly visit for $35 to $50.

Cambodia recently enacted a $3000 "refundable" deposit fee from all visitors to cover any medical expenses should they get sick here. That should kill any tourism to Cambodia for a very long time.

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[goji]

Thanks for the superb pictures.

As for the $3000 deposit, I'm not sure I'd trust the Khmer authorities with that.
Also, as far as I know, Cambodia doesn't have great healthcare and I can't imagine the locals get great treatment if they can't pay. So why would they not simply treat only the foreign tourists who can get the credit card out to cover costs ?
Seems like a way to exclude normal tourists.

[colmx]

Thanks for the update PB, a re-visit to PP is top of y ist of things to do after the Pandemic has passed, but I do have concerns about the hospitals there

As mentioned by Goji above, do you have any comments or experience on the healthcare standards in PP?

A friend of mine lived in Siem Reap as an expat and was overlanded to Bangkok Korat hospital during a health crisis 2/3 years ago... his American Doctor told him that he didn't trust the local facilities (in SR or PP) and wanted him moved to Thailand

[PapaBear]

The Royal Phnom Penh Hospital is owned and managed by the Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Group which also owns BNH, Phyathai and Samitivej Hospitals in Bangkok. It is staffed mostly with Thai and western doctors and is very good. It is expensive but if you have insurance it is okay.

The other hospitals are crap.

[goji]

The Royal Phnom Penh Hospital is owned and managed by the Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Group which also owns BNH, Phyathai and Samitivej Hospitals in Bangkok. It is staffed mostly with Thai and western doctors and is very good. It is expensive but if you have insurance it is okay.

The other hospitals are crap.

That seems about right, since the corrupt group who run Cambodia would make sure there's at least one good hospital that they have access to & don't worry about the welfare of the rest of the population.