The Secret to Surviving Cambodia

Surviving Cambodia (as a long-term expat) requires, if nothing else, self-discipline.

Cambodia is a free country in the clearest and rawest sense of the phrase. A libertarian paradise of sorts, and as such, hard on the weak, including the weak of character. Cambodia will happily allow you to drink every night away, or do drugs with abandon, or drive like a madman, or whatever your particular poison, she will let you indulge it (cheaply) until it does you in or, if you are lucky, drives you out. This of course can happen in this west too, but the west is also full of little nets and safety catches and other moderating influences. You drive a motorcycle blind drunk and helmetless enough times in the west and eventually you're going to get caught and end up in the legal system, forced into AA or whatever. You do drugs and drink to excess and eventually the girlfriend will leave you, family will get on your case, you'll get busted for drunk driving, etc. But not in Cambodia. You are king and master of your world here, even creator. You can do it here until your liver explodes or you become a splatter on the road. Nobody and nothing will intervene. In Cambodia, the only thing that is going to stop you is you. If self-discipline is not part of your personality, one way or the other, you will not be here long-term.